New report on Keystone NAFTA case against U.S.: Climate action undermined by trade agreements
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In January, the Canadian company TransCanada announced its plan to sue the U.S. government for more than $15 billion under the North American Free Trade Agreement — in compensation for the Obama administration’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline: one of the most notorious and reviled proposed fossil fuel projects worldwide.
A new report documents the threat of VIP privileges for corporations in trade deals like the Trans Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. This joint report by Friends of the Earth Europe, Friends of the Earth U.S., Sierra Club and others calls for the U.S., EU, Canada and others to reject VIP treatment for corporations and to say no to trade agreements that include special rights for foreign investors.
Michelle Chan, vice president of programs for Friends of the Earth U.S., had this statement:
If TransCanada and other dirty energy companies get their way, Congress will approve the Trans Pacific and Trans Atlantic trade deals that are clones of NAFTA, empowering multinational corporations to run roughshod over climate and environmental protections. NAFTA-style investment provisions in the TPP agreement with Japan and 10 other Pacific countries and the TTIP deal with Europe would let big oil, coal and LNG companies squeeze billions of dollars out of governments for doing nothing more than trying to save people and the planet from climate disaster.
The report is available here: Oil corporations vs. Climate: How investors use trade agreements to undermine climate action
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