As an independent outdoor journalist, I have learned that much of what you see in the mainstream media and some “alternative” media is at best false narratives and often nothing but more than complete and total lies.
I am very skeptical of information coming from the U.S. government agencies, including the Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation and NOAA Fisheries, as well as state agencies such as the California Department of Water Resources, Department of Fish and Wildlife and Department of Conservation. The LA Times, Washington Post, New York Times and other media outlets are often nothing but spokesmouths for the agencies and the corporate interests they often serve.
On California water and environmental issues, the mainstream media spreads the Big Lie and false narratives from federal and state agencies and corporate lobbyists. Four of the worst Big Lies and false narratives that I have encountered over the past decade are:
1. “Jerry Brown is a green governor” – Fact: he is anything but “green “as I have documented in article after article. Brown backs the Delta Tunnels, fracking, faux “marine protected areas,” salmon and Delta smelt destroying water policies, clear cutting, carbon trading, REDD and many other environmentally destructive policies.
For more information, go to: https://fishsniffer.com/index.php/2016/12/22/3070/
2. “California is the green leader in the nation.” Fact: California is NOT the nation’s “green” leader. California is the nation’s third biggest oil producer, behind North Dakota (second) and Texas (first) and Big Oil exerts inordinate control over the Governor’s Office, the Legislature and the regulatory agencies. While California has some great environmental laws, they aren’t enforced like they should be because of the capture of the regulatory apparatus by Big Oil, Big Ag and other corporate interests. The state features some of the dirtiest cities in the nation, worst water pollution and fastest declines in salmon, Delta smelt and other species, due to regulatory capture.
For more information, go to: https://fishsniffer.com/index.php/2016/11/04/former-mlpa-chairs-big-oil-lobbying-group-tops-session-spending/
3. “The MLPA Initiative is a process that protects the ocean.” – Fact: the marine protected areas created under the privately funded Marine Life Protection Act Initiative process don’t protect the ocean from fracking, pollution, military testing, oil industry activities, or any human impacts on the ocean other than sustainable fishing and gathering.
For more information, go to: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/8/26/1564143/-Fish-And-Game-Commission-Adopts-Marine-Protected-Area-Master-Plan
4. “The Delta Tunnels process is unconnected to any other process.” Fact: the Delta Tunnels plan is intimately linked with the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, plans to build Temperance Flat and Sites Dams, Prop. 1 funding, the scheme to raise Shasta Dam dam and other processes.
For more information, go to: https://fishsniffer.com/index.php/2016/06/15/greenwashing-extinction-the-links-between-delta-tunnels-plan-and-mlpa-initiative/
It’s very lonely trying to expose these false narratives and Big Lies, especially in regards to what passes for “reporting” in the mainstream media. While NGOs often get good op-eds and letters on single issues in the MSM, the mainstream media and faux “alternative” media won’t discuss – or will only rarely discuss – the much bigger stories that I have outlined here, stories that discuss the connections between issues.
For more information about Governor Jerry Brown’s environmental policies and the false narratives and Big Lies of the mainstream media, you can read my many other articles on fish, water, the environment and regulatory capture here on the Fish Sniffer website.