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Governor Brown proclaims 'Space Day' as he plans Delta's destruction

Governor Jerry Brown took a "long deserved" break from fast-tracking the peripheral tunnels, forging ahead with the corrupt Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative and killing fish in the Delta pumps to praise the "science and innovation behind the Curiousity rover" during a tour of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena on Wednesday, August 23.

Prior to touring the facility, Brown yesterday issued a proclamation declaring Wednesday "Space Day" in California. Brown proclaimed:

"WHEREAS, the challenge and the promise of outer space unites all of humanity in a shared sense of curiosity, hope and wonderment; and

WHEREAS, our quest to explore space has yielded innumerable advances in technology, engineering and every scientific field; and

WHEREAS, California’s universities, research institutions and aerospace businesses have made the Golden State a world leader in space science and exploration; and

WHEREAS, space satellites have brought us all closer together by enabling telecommunications and gathering remote-sensing imagery to map the entire surface of the earth; and

WHEREAS, the recent mission of the Mars Science Laboratory, which has successfully landed the rover Curiosity on Mars, represents a significant step forward in our journey to the stars; and

WHEREAS, the leadership of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of California Institute of Technology has been central to the success of Curiosity’s mission; and

WHEREAS, the new images of the Red Planet sent home by Curiosity and the technological genius inherent in the mission have captivated the world’s imagination and reinvigorated our commitment to reach for the stars;

NOW THEREFORE I, EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim August 22, 2012, as Space Day."

After issuing the proclamation, Brown spoke at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory lauding the science and innovation behind the Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars on August 5.

Before providing remarks, the Governor toured the operations center, met the Mars Science Laboratory operating team and viewed a full-scale model of the rover.

Personally, I'm happy that "Governor Moonbeam" has made the historic transition to "Governor Mars Mission." I'm excited to see the photos and video feeds coming back from Mars, just like Brown is.

Unfortunately, after touring the facility, Brown went back to "business as usual," including fast tracking the Bay Delta Conservation Plan to build twin peripheral tunnels around the Delta. During a press conference at the California Natural Resources Agency Building in Sacramento on July 25, Brown announced his plan for the construction of two peripheral tunnels that would take water from three intakes on the Sacramento River near Courtland and Hood to deliver water to corporate agribusiness on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley and southern California water agencies. (http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/07/27/18718385.php)

The same "green" Governor has continued many of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s other abysmal environmental polices, including forging ahead with the privately funded Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative to create so-called marine protected areas on the California coast, killing record numbers of Sacramento splittail, an imperiled native fish, in 2011 and exporting record levels of water out of the California Delta last year.

Bill Jennings, Executive Director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) and Board Member of the California Water Impact Network, accurately portrayed Brown's Bay Delta Conservation Plan as "a $50 billion scheme to divert the Sacramento River around the estuary to irrigate the parched impaired soils of the South Valley."

"The collective scientific community scathingly characterized their Effects Analysis as junk science; and said that it would hasten extinction rather than restoring species," said Jennings. "You can’t restore an estuary hemorrhaging from pollution and lack of flow by stealing more fresh water from it. That’s a death sentence for the Delta."

Maybe with Brown's newfound interest in Mars, space and "science," we can convince him to volunteer for the first manned mission to Mars. Heck, anything to take him away from his current role as destroyer of the Delta and servant of the 1 percent would be greatly appreciated!