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Indybay Feature

Another Right Wing March and Rally for Water

by Mike Rhodes (editor [at] fresnoalliance.com)
The Latino Water Coalition organized a march and rally for water at Fresno City Hall today. Fresno City officials estimated the crowd at between 3,500 -4,000. Farmers, farmworkers, and politicians rallied to turn on the pumps in the delta to irrigate the farms in the western Central Valley. Republican congressman George Radanovich (photo below) took the demand one step further, calling on eliminating at least one species of fish to get the water farmers say they need.
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§1:20 hour Rally at Fresno City Hall
by Mike Rhodes
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§Paul Rodriguez
by Mike Rhodes
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Comedian Paul Rodriguez, co-chair of the Latino Water Coalition, MC’d the event that took place outdoors on a day in 100 degree plus weather. Rodriguez has become the spokesperson for turning on the pumps and removing environmental protections aimed at saving the delta smelt, a small fish on the endangered species list.
§Victor Lopez
by Mike Rhodes
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Orange Cove mayor Victor Lopez gave a passionate speech, mostly in Spanish, about why the pumps must be turned on in this battle between “fish and people.”
§Alan Autry
by Mike Rhodes
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Former Fresno mayor Alan Autry said the efforts to protect endangered species were not helping the situation and called environmental activists domestic terrorists. Autry used Mendota, a small town in the Western Central Valley that has an unemployment rate of over 40% to make his point that those who would hold back the water are terrorists.
§Fish Don’t vote
by Mike Rhodes
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Following the rally, most of the participants, estimated at up to 4,000 by City of Fresno officials, marched through the downtown area. This march and rally follows the Town Hall that was held in Fresno on Sunday by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. Salazar promised more attention to this issue, but proponents of turning on the pumps are demanding immediate action, including suspending the protection of the delta smelt. Environmentalists say the delta smelt are essential for a healthy river ecosystem.
§Fish vs. People?
by Mike Rhodes
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For a good analysis on this Fish vs. People myth, see THE PR FIRM FROM HELL: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/06/29/18604574.php
§This is George Radanovich calling for the “God Squad”
by Mike Rhodes
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§Audio Report on the rally
by Mike Rhodes (editor [at] fresnoalliance.com)
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Comments (Hide Comments)
by fresno resident
Horrible politicians like Radonovich, Autry, and Nunes. Along with the farmers who are using farm workers in their attacks on environmental issues.

This doesn't have to be some right wing bs calling for killing fish as the solution. Many people also rely on fishing in this area to keep food on the table in these tough times. Bringing back the rivers will also provide solutions that people don't seem to talk about. In the case of sending more water down the San Joaquin and trying to restore it, there will undoubtedly be a lot of water trickling back into the natural aquifer system that has been drained over the years because of ignorant water policies.

The whole ecosystem will crumble if we go the way that the republicans and farmers want us to. It is much more important to find some sort of balance on this issue and make sure that changes are made across the state to maximize water use and conservation. Whats going on with jobs in the valley and land going fallow because of stupid water policies over the years is sick. It's even sicker that these big moneyed interests are using people to justify continuing the destruction of the ecosystem.

If we don't find a middle ground on this soon, things will get much worse, and whole fisheries may die off. This will have an even broader financial impact, and we need to find real long term solutions. We can't do that with politicians calling for the death of fish or ignoring the real connections between the importance of letting the rivers flow and radically revamping our water policies.

Radanovich and Nunes are both horrible politicians and we need to throw them out of office because they continually show that they do not act in the interest of the people and the great state of California. They are just simply puppets for big business, and continue to try to undermine chances at real solutions.
by really
He's chosen to be a tool for agribusiness and an agent to fool Latino working people into demonstrating for corporate profits over people (and fish). Is he getting paid for this or just really easily conned? Has he no rebel bone in his body?
by Furthermore, Fish are Food too!!
What a load of B.S. coming from Fresno and the former mayor Alan "Bubba Skinner" Autry! How sad to watch people being so easily led into carrying signs against fish, as if indigenous peoples in CA haven't relied upon fish as nutritious food for centuries, and also eaten the vegetables from the land! Salmon contains just about every vitamin and mineral needed by the human body for survival, it is a true miracle food! The delta smelt are an important component of the food base needed by salmon on their way to and from the ocean..

If only people at the Fresno march knew that the smelt and salmon they were protesting against were being made extinct by crops like iceberg lettuce, with hardly any nutritional content, though giving agribusiness corporations enough money from lucrative contracts with McDonalds and Taco Bell, selling industrialized crap masquerading as food!!

The San Joaquin agribusiness corporations could stand to show some reasonable attitude given our current situation and act responsibly, considering switching their crops to some drought tolerant options that require less irrigation water. If the agribusiness corporations were so serious about providing jobs and food for people, they would not be so stubborn in insisting that only the most water dependent crops would give people jobs, and if these crops are not grown to save the fish, than massive amounts of farmworkers will be unemployed and U.S. consumers will find their grocery shelves bare..

We also need to be honest and admit that many crops grown in the San Joaquin Valley demand greater amounts of water than other plants would require and maybe now we should consider reducing yearly demands of agribusiness by encouraging the land to be used in a more responsible manner with regards to the ecosystem and our additional demands on water from urban regions and the need for riparian migrants like salmon to survive..

The question here is; Would growing drought tolerant tepary beans instead not only reduce demands on the pumps for irrigation while also providing farmworkers with jobs? Why would farmworkers be oppossed to this? The only excuse is that there is no economic market for tepary beans, though this could change overnight when people learn the advantages of eating high protein content beans that also are not so demanding on our water supplies..

Though i am also disappointed by the people at the Fresno protest acting as puppets for corporate agribusiness plantations, they have the right to express their views, despite how wrong and misleading they may be. People throughout the state are aware of the criminal acts perpetuated by agribusiness corporations and will not be fooled by the follies coming out of Fresno..

We need to remind everyone of Alan Autry's better days as Bubba Skinner from the "Heat of the Night", only then the script he was reading from was far more harmless, "Howdy, Chief! How 'bout turnin' on them pumps fer us good folks, now, ya hear!"..

"Si, Senor" say the puppets at the protest!!

by Jasmine De La Torre
Fish are more important than people? That is ridiculous!
by ki
salazar can suck my metaphorical-balls.

yes, fish are more important than people. because humans, as carbon-based life forms, can TOTALLY survive without a healthy ocean on planet earth. fuckers. if they take this stance now, they better start colonizing other planets because without fish we won't last long (i don't mean to "eat" either).
Does anybody notice what is happening right above our heads? Look up once in a while; the skies and weather are certainly unnatural. Many organizations are involved with messing with the health and welfare of every living thing in California as well as the rest of the planet! Get together and fight the real cause of our mess.
Check out one of many great sites for more information http://www.californiaskywatch.com/documents/htmldocs/agri_alert_2009_weathermod.htm
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