From Jane Clark at [log in to unmask] ================================================== "What do you think: Is free trade worth environmental risks?" I have been attending meetings of a group called Iowa Fair Trade Watch in Des Moines, which includes representatives of the faith community, family farms, labor, youth, environmental, and human rights groups -- all protesting the WTO which is meeting in Seattle this week. A rally in Des Moines on Tuesday which is mentioned in this e-mail is organized by students -- who have the most to lose with WTO. In case you haven't heard, Tuesday November 30th, hundreds of thousands of people around the globe will be protesting the World Trade Organization's unchecked exploitation of people and the planet in the name of furthering corporate profits. You can take part in Des Moines. **Come to the Federal Building on Tuesday, November 30th from 10 am - 1 pm and join the peaceful action to stop corporate globalization and the erosion of democracy!!** The Federal Building is located in Des Moines at 210 Walnut. SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE: Gearing Up for the WTO Summit Sierra Club activists across the country are getting into the act to protest the World Trade Organization Summit in Seattle beginning November 29th. Designed to promote global trade, the WTO has -- in its first few years of existence -- hammered rules affecting sea turtles, food safety and clean air as "illegal trade barriers." Tens of thousands of protestors are now expected to turn out for what Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope predicts will be one of the biggest confrontations between the American people and their government since the 1970s. At noon today, Sierrans march to the Seattle Convention Center for the "Make Trade Clean, Green, and Fair" rally. Carl Pope will be joined by environmental leaders around the world. WHY SHOULD WE CARE? Why should we care about WTO? One of the simplest ways to explain is that invasive species from other countries have already been introduced through trade. Many pests are hitchhiking rides on raw logs, railroad ties and in wood crates and pallets. These pests have no natural enemies in this country and can cause enormous damage to the trees in our forests, neighborhoods and farmsteads. A recent invasion of the Asian long-horned beetle caused destruction of trees in the Chicago area. The only means of control is the disposal of the trees by cutting or burning. The U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service cannot implement precautionary safeguards necessary to stop invasive pests because doing so would violate WTO rules. Since it's inception, the WTO has ruled against every environmental or conservation law it has reviewed, judging them to be illegal trade barriers that must be eliminated. The WTO presents a lot to be concerned about. But just looking at forests, it is embarrassing that our government's agenda is to promote more logging in some the world's most sensitive forests and not feel responsibility to propose any mitigation at all. Even Home Depot now recognizes that some sensitive forests shouldn't be logged. How ironic: Home Depot acts to reduce their negative impact on the forests of Indonesia and Malaysia, while the U.S. government is pushing more logging in these same forests. ***Iowans will be joining the protest with a rally at the Des Moines Federal Building featuring puppets, street theatre, speakers, cell phone actions, leafletting, and over a hundred Iowa citizens making their voices heard!!! It's going to be an exciting opportunity for Iowans from all different causes and organizations to unite together on one issue!!*** The WTO needs to be reformed to involve democratic processes and to protect public health, public safety, the environment, labor rights, and human rights--all issues now being considered by the WTO as "barriers to trade." Senators Harkin and Grassley, and Governor Vilsack will all be in Seattle at the WTO's 3rd Ministerial Summit. It is up to us to let them know that we, the citizens of Iowa who they represent, demand a World Trade Organization that represents the public interest not corporate interests. ========================================================= TAKE ACTION For those who can't get to Seattle or Des Moines, now is a good time to place that letter to the editor you've been thinking about. Please make two points: * the WTO hurts our health and heritage * President Clinton should take action to "make trade clean, green, and fair." See the web page for more info at www.sierraclub.org/trade. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask]