FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, June 18, 2015
Contact: Steve Hopcraft 916/457-5546; steve@hopcraft.com; Twitter: @shopcraft;
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla 209/479-2053 barbara@restorethedelta.org; Twitter: @RestoretheDelta
In case you missed it…
Fresno Bee: Valley Voices
Esperanza Vielma: Gov. Brown, abandon delta tunnels plan
By Esperanza Vielma 6/13/15
Excerpts:
“Growers are paying farmworkers to ride buses to serve as props for their pro-delta tunnels campaign
“Pro-tunnels growers decry pollution of rural drinking water — which their pesticides polluted
“We who live and work in the delta need water, fish and farms …
“…My personal perspective leads me to strongly oppose the governor’s massive underground water export tunnels. It saddens me to see huge growers and water exporters using farmworkers’ unemployment to push for even more exports that will doom the delta and our salmon fisheries. These growers don’t care about farmworkers. They exploit chronic unemployment they built into their industrial agriculture to justify ruining delta communities. …
“…It’s not farmers against fish. It’s south Valley corporate agribusiness versus the rest of us. These mega-growers have the political clout to move delta water to their farms. Part of their game is to hide behind farmworkers like my family. It’s time to pull back the mask.
“Esperanza Vielma is a Stockton resident, and executive director for Café Coop, a nonprofit assisting young entrepreneurs in San Joaquin County.”