For Immediate Release: January 24, 2017
Contact:
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, 209-479-2053, barbara@restorethedelta.org
Brian Smith, 415-320-9384, brian@bpspr.com
Restore the Delta Reacts to Governor Brown’s State of the State Address
Sacramento, CA – Today, California Governor Jerry Brown gave his State of the State Address.
Facing the incoming Trump Administration, governor Brown warned Californians that, “While no one knows what the new leaders will actually do, there are signs that are disturbing…We must prepare for very uncertain times.”
Governor Brown then praised President Trump’s plan for $1 trillion in infrastructure spending. He quoted Trump from his inaugural address, “We will build new roads, and highways, and bridges and airport, and tunnels and railways all across our wonderful nation.”
In response to Trump’s plan, Governor Brown said during his State of the State Address, “Amen to that brother!”
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta and lead organizer against the Delta Tunnels responded with the following statement:
“After declaring that California will lead the resistance against the Trump administration, he went on to praise Trump’s proposed infrastructure spending plan. Does Governor Brown see an ally in President Trump? Is he waiting for Federal approval of permits for this destructive project?
“It seems that Governor Brown plans to compromise the health and safety of Delta residents for a project that will leave the Delta with water that will fail to meet Clean Water Act standards.
“The proposed Delta Tunnels received low marks once again from the EPA in October of 2015. It will leave hundreds of thousands of people in the Delta, who are part of the California environmental justice communities, with degraded water quality, and will decimate California’s fisheries, and historic Delta farms. The project fails to meet the economic, social, and environmental justice standards that the Brown Administration claims to champion. Plus, before construction overruns, the project will cost with interest and operation fees around $60 billion. Brown is counting on Southern California ratepayers and property taxpayers to foot the bill.
“Governor Brown wants to use Northern California water to create even more wealth for richer urban areas and the top 1% of growers on the westside of the San Joaquin Valley, at the expense of economically distressed Delta cities like Stockton. He wants President Trump to help him. This isn’t resistance.”