by Victoria Brandon, Redwood Chapter Chair
As has been discussed in previous editions of the Redwood Needles, the Sierra Club thinks the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) mega- trade deal risks unacceptable environmental impacts both in this country and abroad. The more we learn about the details of this treaty, the graver those concerns become.
A very recent development has racheted up the anxiety level still higher.
TransCanada, the notorious fossil fuel corporation behind the dirty and dangerous Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, is suing the Obama administration for rejecting the pipeline proposal. The company intends to ask a private tribunal to order the U.S. government to hand more than $15 billion of our tax dollars over to the corporation as “compensation” for the Keystone XL decision that spared us the threat of increased climate disruption and spills of dirty tar sands oil. TransCanada is taking advantage of the “investor-state dispute settlement” provision of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which gives foreign corporations the right to challenge U.S. environmental protections in unaccountable trade tribunals.
The TPP would extend these corporate privileges to more than 9,000 additional foreign-owned firms, including Australian and Japanese fossil fuel corporations that are currently drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico and fracking for natural gas on U.S. public lands. If it passes, it would roughly double the number of foreign companies that could challenge U.S. climate and environmental safeguards in private tribunals.
At 6PM on Wednesday January 27, Redwood Chapter is partnering with Food and Water Watch, Sonoma County Conservation Action, and the Citizens Trade Campaign to host an informational rally about the threats the TPP poses to our food safety, jobs, and the environment. Everyone is welcome at this FREE event, which will be held at the Odd Fellows Hall, 545 Pacific Avenue in Santa Rosa; speakers include Food and Water Watch California Director Adam Scow and Citizens Trade Campaign Northern California Organizer Xiomara Castro. This is your chance to have your questions answered– refreshments served too! For more information about the event, contact xiomara@citizenstrade.org.
The ultimate decision on the TPP is in the hands of Congress, which can vote it up or down, but not propose amendments. All three members of Redwood Chapter’s Congressional delegation– Representatives Jared Huffman, John Garamendi and Mike Thompson– are expected to vote “no,” but they need to know that their grassroots constituents are behind them.
Please take a moment to contact your Congressman to thank him for his vote against Fast Tracking the TPP, and to encourage him to oppose the treaty itself. They all accept emails through their Congressional websites, or you can call 415 258-9657 (Huffman); 530 753-5301 (Garamendi); and 707 226-9898 (Thompson). Please tell the aide who answers (or the message machine) that you are calling at the request of the Sierra Club.