Hi MJ and Nora -- I missed the program but thought I could pass along this
information.
Jane Clark

----- Original Message -----
From: MJ Hatfield <[log in to unmask]>


> I just watched Bill Moyer's TV show on NAFTA's Chapter 11.
> It sickened me. The potential threat to environmental law appears huge.
> Does anyone know, is Sierra Club addressing this?
> Thanks.
> MJ Hatfield
>
WHAT CAN YOU DO? Below are three simple and straight forward, and important
things you can do to ensure your voice is heard:
1) FEBRUARY 6th: ALL-CALL DAY TO YOUR SENATORS! Urge your Senators to oppose
these outrageous "investor-to-state" provisions in trade and investment
agreements, and DEMAND that they vote against the Baucus/Grassley Fast Track
bill. Its weak language (contained in the foreign investment section of the
bill) would lead to further corporate assaults on the environment, and on
health and safety regulations.  Tell your senator that Chapter 11 investor
rules undermine our democratic rights to choose our own laws to protect the
environment, as well as our health and safety, and that a meaningful and
substantial revision of this terrible NAFTA provision is necessary.  (For a
list of some necessary revisions to Chapter 11, check out the letter from
Congressman Doggett (D-TX) on our web-page:
http://www.citizen.org/documents/Fast_Track_-Doggett,Eshoo_Chp._11,_Pres._Bu
sh_1.pdf
YOUR SENATOR MAY BE REACHED BY CALLING THE U.S. CAPITOL SWITCHBOARD AT
202-224-3121, OR 202-225-3121.

2)You can send electronic postcards by visiting
www.thirteen.org/moyers/trading_democracy/index.php). Tape the show and
arrange for a screening of it to friends/family/colleagues later on.

3) Send a letter to the editor about Chapter 11. You can find some sample
letters on our web-site:
http://www.citizen.org/trade/nafta/CH__11/articles.cfm?ID=6692

"Trading Democracy" is a one-hour documentary that covers, in understandable
terms, the legal and technical aspects of NAFTA's investor rules. These
rules allow corporations to sue countries directly to overturn legitimate
public interest laws and regulations when they believe their actual or
potential corporate profits have been undermined.  Incredibly, these suits
are decided in secret by unelected bureaucrats who have been given the power
to determine whether laws  ranging from zoning ordinances to environmental
protections constitute an interference with corporate profits.

Already Chapter 11 has led to corporate assaults against  health, safety and
environmental laws, with one company demanding compensation close to $1
billion. Beyond that, even "Buy America" laws intended to protect our
country's steel industry are now under attack by multi-national corporate
profiteers.
Amazingly, the Bush Administration is now in negotiations to expand this
dangerous NAFTA investor provision to 31 more countries in the hemisphere,
through the so-called Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).  The first
step in paving the way to this expansion of the reach of Chapter 11 will be
a soon-to-be held senate vote on the Baucus/Grassley Fast Track bill.
_______________________________________________________
Want more information about Chapter 11? Visit these links: Public Citizen
released a comprehensive report on Chapter 11 called: "NAFTA Chapter 11
Investor-to-State Cases: Bankrupting Democracy":
http://www.citizen.org/publications/release.cfm?ID=7076
There is also a shorter article from Multinational Monitor "NAFTA's Investor
"Rights" A Corporate Dream, A Citizen Nightmare" that is well worth reading:
http://www.essential.org/monitor/mm2001/01april/corp1.html
Several organizations have also released information on Chapter 11,
including Center for International Environmental Law (www.ciel.org), Friends
of the Earth (www.foe.org) and the Sierra Club (www.sierraclub.org).
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
For SC email list T-and-C, send: GET TERMS-AND-CONDITIONS.CURRENT
to [log in to unmask]