CLCV: Beltway Anti-Oceans Group Continues Misinformation Campaign to Defeat Marine Protection Effort

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Aug. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On the eve of a key vote by the California Fish and Game Commission, the California League of Conservation Voters today assailed the so-called "Partnership for Sustainable Oceans," for its continued misinformation campaign about the Marine Life Protection Act.

"This Beltway group funded by foreign fishing equipment manufacturers once again is attempting to deceive Californians about its true intent: to kill efforts to protect our oceans," said CLCV President Warner Chabot. "It's time for this group to stop erasing website material, stop misrepresenting itself to Californians, and come clean about its attempts to suspend the Marine Life Protection Act."

PSO backers, Chabot noted, have continually fought against ocean protection on the federal level and in other states. The organization's members sought to delist the manatee from Endangered Species Act protection in Florida, advocated the killing of sea lions on the California coast, and opposed federal efforts to establish national marine monuments in the Pacific.

Chabot noted that:

• PSO has four times called for the "suspension" of the MLPA;
• PSO is attempting to hide from Californians the contributions of foreign bike gear equipment manufacturer Shimano Corporation and other corporate interests behind its anti-MLPA activities;
• PSO has erased content from its website in response to CLCV's campaign to expose the organization's anti-oceans history and position on the MLPA.
  

On the eve of this key vote, PSO is engaged in more "greenwashing" by attempting to rewrite its pathetic history, said Chabot. "This group's backers have fought marine protection for nearly a decade."

Chabot cited a June 1, 2000 press release, PSO said "We call on California's legislature to address this issue and put the brakes on the MLPA implementation process." In a June 22, 2009 letter to Gov. Schwarzenegger, PSO wrote "we respectfully request that the MLPA process be placed on a temporary hold..."

Links to both documents are posted online at www.SomethingsFishyAboutPso.com, a website launched last Weel by the CLCV.

"Despite its million dollar PR campaign, the facts speak for themselves," says Chabot. "This is an industry front group that is doing everything it can to defeat ocean protection."

For more information on the PSO, visit www.somethingsfishyaboutpso.com.

About the California League of Conservation Voters

The political muscle of the environmental movement in America's leading environmental state, the California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV) is the nation's oldest grassroots environmental political action organization. CLCV uses sophisticated campaign tools to help elect pro-environment officials -- and to hold them accountable for passing legislation to protect public health, communities and the environment. CLCV publishes the annual California Environmental Scorecard, which rates the actions of every state legislator and the governor on the state's environmental priorities each legislative year. For information on CLCV's election priorities and endorsements, visit www.ecovote.org.

SOURCE California League of Conservation Voters