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]