Pharaoh Brown Should Build A Pyramid Or Sphinx Rather Than Tunnels

Pharaoh Brown Should Build A Pyramid Or Sphinx Rather Than Tunnels

by Dan Bacher

Jerry Meral, the former Brown administration's Bay Delta Conservation Plan point man who retired from state "service" in 2013, unwittingly exposed the absurdity of the California Water Fix to build the Delta Tunnels as a "legacy" project for Governor Jerry Brown when he recently compared opponents of the tunnels to people who didn’t like the pyramids being built.

“The people who filed the comments who haven’t wanted this project for 10 years or so and are still upset, so that’s not surprising,” Meral, who now works for the faux “environmental group” called the Natural Heritage Institute, told the Sacramento Bee on November 8. “I’m sure there were people who didn’t like the pyramids, but in the end they got built because, frankly, the people who had the power to build them built them.” (http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/delta/article43691418.html#storylink=cpy)

Actually, Jerry, if the Governor’s "legacy" is all about him being a modern-day Pharaoh with the overwhelming obsession of building a monument to his "legacy," a pyramid would be a much more environmentally friendly project than the salmon-killing Delta Tunnels. And I know of at least one Delta Tunnels opponent, Robert Ramsdell, who would wholeheartedly support the construction of a pyramid rather than Jerry Brown's Delta Death Tunnels.

In 2013 Robert Ramsdell came up with a creative solution to how Governor Jerry Brown can build a gigantic monument to his "legacy" without building the enormously costly and environmentally destructive tunnels:

"The period when a long time pol enters the terminal phase of his career is fraught with danger for the public (and in this case the environment, too). The nearly spent executive is obsessed with his 'legacy' and in the case of Jerry Brown, following in the foot steps of his father, these manias are exacerbated and can be especially hazardous to the common good.

For instance: Having already smitten the poor and the elderly with savage budget cuts he has fixed his ambitions for managerial immortality on a grandiose scheme for a cross delta tunnel project, or in popular parlance: The Twin Tunnels of Ecological Doom.

I have a few less destructive options for him to entertain instead of his legacy enhancing dreams for two giant tunnels under the California Delta, which will probably put the final nail in the coffin of the largest fresh/saltwater estuary on the West Coast and so to a priceless ecological and recreational resource.

Alternatives:

1. Here is one tried and true legacy booster: a pyramid!

Is there anything more mysterious and awe inspiring than a gigantic triangular pile of rocks pointing at the sky? And the effect can be enhanced further by rooms and tunnels cunningly designed into the structure. Maybe even a likeness of Linda Ronstadt (circa 1976) could be painted on the walls of some of the tunnels or a statue of her included in one of the torch lit rooms.

2. A stone likeness or monument (com'mon Jerry, at least think about it!)

3. A cathedral! Right religion for the Governor and it could only improve the sky line of Sacramento."

Robert has some superb ideas on how Brown can build a giant monument to his "legacy" while at the same time not endangering the Delta, Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations, Tribes, family farmers and the common good like his Delta Tunnels project will do.

My personal favorite is a Pharaoh-like pyramid, especially one with a likeness of Linda Ronstadt, circa 1976, painted on the walls. I would add likenesses and statues of Brown’s biggest campaign contributors, including Stewart and Linda Resnick, owners of Paramount Farms in Kern County.

Since Brown is an avid supporter of the oil industry and its lobby, the Western States Petroleum Association, the wealthiest and most powerful corporate lobby in Sacramento, the logos of the association, Chevron, Exxon and other oil companies should be prominently engraved on its walls.

The stone likeness or monument of Jerry Brown or a cathedral would also serve as great alternatives to the Delta tunnels.

The Jerry Brown pyramid, monument or cathedral would be much more welcome additions to the landscape than a massive tunnel project that would take many years to complete. Not only would they be less costly and have a much lighter environmental footprint than the tunnels, but these works of art would help enhance the City of Sacramento skyline.

Any of these three projects would provide a boost to the construction industry, providing lots of temporary jobs while the "legacy" project is being built.

Now the only problem is convincing Brown to embrace one of these three alternatives to his legacy rather than building the Delta Tunnels that he is so obsessed with constructing.

Delta Tunnels Background

Delta residents, fishermen, Indian Tribes, environmentalists and a growing number of elected officials oppose the $67 billion tunnels plan, renamed the "California Water Fix" this year, because it would hasten the extinction of Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River Chinook salmon, Delta and longfin smelt, green sturgeon and other fish species. The public comment period for the widely-opposed plan's Environmental Impact Report closed on October 30.

The tunnels also threaten the Klamath River system, since much of the water destined for the tunnels would come from the Trinity River, the Klamath's largest tributary. The Trinity is the only out of basin water supply for the federal Central Valley Project.