At 1/31/02 02:57 AM, barbara gaines wrote: >This is the first opportunity to learn the startling truth that has been >hidden-- and why it is critical for Americans to know these facts NOW! > >''AN OBSCURE PROVISION HIDDEN IN NAFTA CAN (AND ALREADY HAS) COST >TAXPAYERS MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, PERMITTING MULTINATIONALS TO SUE >GOVERNMENTS OVER ENVIRONMENTAL & HEALTH LAWS THAT CUT INTO THEIR PROFITS'' >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- >------- BILL MOYERS REPORTS: TRADING DEMOCRACY - Tuesday, FEB 5, 1OPM [EST] > >***** PLEASE WATCH OR TAPE ***** > >"TRADING DEMOCRACY" - PBS documentary on NAFTA's Threat to Democracy >Tuesday February 5th at 10:00 PM (EST) - (Check local listings.) > >"Trading Democracy" is a one-hour documentary that exposes the reality of >NAFTA's rules, in understandable terms. But don't delete yet, for we are >in some danger and need to know. > >If you are unfamiliar with how these rules affect us and our communities, >right now, then you may be shocked to know that these rules have allowed >corporations to sue, directly and successfully, for vast monetary damages >and TO OVERTURN LEGITIMATE PUBLIC INTEREST LAWS AND REGULATIONS THAT SERVE >THE PUBLIC GOOD! And it is simple to accomplish because those rules make >it illegal for local laws protecting the public in ANY country to stand in >the way of actual or potential corporate profits!. > >Seem unbelievable that such a thing is happening? Yet, already, the US >and Canada have been forced to pay vast settlements in several cases, and >more are coming. And, if that's not incredible enough, these suits are >always decided IN SECRET - and by unelected bureaucrats REPRESENTING >CORPORATE INTERESTS - who have been given the power to determine whether >laws ranging from zoning ordinances to environmental protections >constitute an interference with corporate profits. > >No surprise, then, that giant corporations are now pushing to expand this >particular 'investor' provision - Chapter 11- which has led already 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 spread the >reach of 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 will be a very-soon-to-be held >Senate vote on the Baucus/Grassley FAST TRACK bill. > >If you want more of the grisly facts behind the Moyers program, you will >find a short article below, preceded by 3 suggestions for simple actions >we can all take to turn this around. Please read on... > >And, if you want more background on the issue, an article from >Multinational Monitor "NAFTA's Investor "Rights": A Corporate Dream, A >Citizen Nightmare" is available, along with other resources, via web >links at the bottom of this post. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TOGETHER, WE MUST STOP >IT! HERE'S WHAT TO DO: Below are three simple, straightforward and >important things you can do to ensure your voice is heard: > >1) MAKE A CALL, at least.... FEBRUARY 6th (or before): ALL-CALL DAY TO >YOUR SENATORS - AGAINST the BAUCUS/GRASSLEY FAST TRACK bill! The phone >numbers are below. It's a short call to your Senators' offices for you to >urge them 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) > > >Try this toll-free number first: 1-888-832-4246. As long as it's in >operation, use it and feel free to pass it on to anyone who might make >productive use of it. (You just type in your zip code, and then the >recording asks you if you want them to dial this or that Senator, & [for >future issues] this or that rep.) OTHERWISE, YOUR SENATOR MAY BE REACHED >BY CALLING THE U.S. CAPITOL SWITCHBOARD AT 202-224-3121, OR 202-225-3121. > >2) TELL OTHER FOLKS... Tell the people you know about the Moyers program >and urge them to watch an incredible expose. (An easy way: 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. > >And COPY&PASTE this email and FORWARD widely! > >3) SEND A LETTER... to the editor, for one example, 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. We will >also post a sample op-ed and letters to your elected officials on this >site after the program has aired so keep this URL & keep checking the >site! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MORE ON THE PROGRAM: > >Documentary Exposing How NAFTA's Chapter 11 Has Become Private Justice For >Foreign Companies > >Investigating Our Democracy At Risk > >Three years after a Mississippi jury found a Canadian-based conglomerate >guilty of fraud in attempting to put a family-owned Biloxi funeral home >out of business, the Canadian company filed a claim against the United >States, demanding $725 million in compensation. > >When California banned a gasoline additive that had contaminated drinking >water throughout the state, another Canadian firm sued the U.S. government >to force citizens to pay nearly 1 billion dollars for its potential lost >profits. > >In what one attorney called "an end-run around the Constitution," >corporations are using a little-known provision of the North American Free >Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to challenge public laws, regulations and jury >verdicts not only in the United States, but in Canada and Mexico as well. >And, they are arguing those cases not in courts of law, but before secret >trade tribunals. > >How can this be happening? And why do so few people know about it? > >In the latest in their series of expos�s on the secret recesses of >American democracy, Bill Moyers and Sherry Jones uncover how multinational >corporations have acquired the power to demand compensation if laws aimed >at protecting the environment or public health harm them financially. The >one-hour documentary, BILL MOYERS REPORTS: TRADING DEMOCRACY, premieres >February 5 at 10:00 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings). > >"When the North American Free Trade Agreement became the law of the land >almost a decade ago, the debate we heard was about jobs," notes Bill >Moyers. "One provision was too obscure to stir up controversy. It was >called Chapter 11, and it was supposedly written to protect investors from >having their property seized by foreign governments. But since NAFTA was >ratified, corporations have used Chapter 11 to challenge the powers of >government to protect its citizens, to undermine environmental and health >laws, even attack our system of justice." > >Speaking with legislators, public policy experts, community leaders and >citizens about the lawsuits filed under NAFTA's Chapter 11, BILL MOYERS >REPORTS: TRADING DEMOCRACY unravels the hidden repercussions of a treaty >that was supposed to promote democracy through free trade, but now appears >to have given deep-pocketed corporations the means to undermine democracy >across international borders. > >The program explores the case of Methanex, a Canadian company that is the >world's largest producer of the key ingredient in the gasoline additive >MTBE, which was found to be a carcinogen. In 1995 MTBE began turning up >in wells throughout California, and by 1999 had contaminated thirty public >water systems. The state ordered that the additive be phased >out. Methanex filed suit under NAFTA's Chapter 11, seeking $970 million >in compensation for loss of market share and, consequently, future profits. > >With regard to the Methanex case, environmental attorney Martin Wagner >tells Moyers, "they're saying that California either can't implement this >protection or that they get a billion dollars. People should be outraged >by that." > >As Moyers reports, many people who have been affected by MTBE >contamination are indeed outraged. But they are helpless to do >anything. The NAFTA tribunal that will decide the Methanex case - like >all the tribunals hearing Chapter Eleven-based cases - is closed to the >public. Yet, it is the taxpayers "who will foot the bill if the tribunal >decides in favor of the Canadian company," says Moyers. > >But the ramifications for the public go well beyond the loss of taxpayer >dollars, a journalist William Greider explains. "If Methanex wins its >billion dollar claim over California environmental law, there ain't gonna >be many states enacting that law, are there?" he says, adding that the >NAFTA provision "hobbles the authority of government to act in the broader >public interest. And, in fact, that was the idea in the first place." > >Addressing a Chapter 11 case in which the Ethyl Corporation, an American >manufacturer of another gasoline additive called MMT, successfully sued >Canada over a ban on the product, Greider tells Moyers: "Governments are >already being intimidated by the mere threat of a claim being filed >against some regulatory action. If you're a civil servant, or even a >political leader, you've got to think twice when a corporate lawyer comes >to you and says, quite forcefully, we're going to hit you for a half a >billion dollars if you do this." > >Moyers also takes his investigation south of the border to the Mexican >state of San Luis Potos�, where an American company called Metalclad tried >to bulldoze over the protests of both state and local governments to >reopen a toxic waste dump that many citizens feared was making them sick. >When Metalclad was stopped by the local town council the company invoked >Chapter 11 and was awarded $16 million in compensation. The crux of >Metalclad's victory was the Chapter 11 phrase "tantamount to >expropriation." As Martin Wagner explains: "Not only do governments have >to compensate when they expropriate or take away property, but they have >to do so whenever they do something that is 'tantamount to expropriation'." > >Challenges being mounted under Chapter 11 are not only directed toward >regulatory activity, they are also successfully overruling jury decisions >in civil courts of law. The documentary explores a case in Mississippi >where a Biloxi funeral home owner was awarded punitive damages by a jury >in a civil suit against a large Canadian corporation called the Loewen >Group. The local funeral home owner alleged that the Loewen Group had >engaged in "fraudulent" and "predatory" trade practices, and the jury >found against the Canadian company. Three years later, the Loewen Group >filed a Chapter 11 claim against American taxpayers saying the jury was >biased against Canadians, and in a preliminary ruling, the NAFTA tribunal >has declared the Mississippi trial a legitimate target. The Loewen suit, >notes Moyers, "could conceivably open the U.S. civil justice system to >challenge --including decisions of the United States Supreme Court." > >This startling realization, and the knowledge that corporate giants are >pushing to expand NAFTA to 31 more countries in the Western Hemisphere, >prompts Moyers to ask, "Are we promoting democracy - as we claim - or >trading it away?" > >TRADING DEMOCRACY is the latest collaboration between Bill Moyers and >producer Sherry Jones, who produced TRADE SECRETS: A MOYERS REPORT in >March 2001. Their previous productions include WASHINGTON'S OTHER SCANDAL, >the Peabody-winning investigation of campaign finance scandals in the 1996 >Presidential elections, and the Emmy-winning HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS >for PBS's Frontline series. >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- >--- >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). > >=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= >
+++ Jay Fenello, Internet Coaching http://www.Fenello.com ... 678-585-9765 http://www.YourWebPartner.com ... Web Support http://www.AligningWithPurpose.com ... for a Better World --------------------------------------------------------- "The first step is to penetrate the clouds of deceit and distortion and learn the truth about the world, then to organize and act to change it. That's never been impossible and never been easy." -- Noam Chomsky
