Hundreds of Environmental Groups Call on Congress To Reject TPP and TTIP
More than 450 groups, mostly environmental, landowner and indigenous rights organizations, asked congressional lawmakers to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. The groups said the trade deals would enable fossil fuel corporations to demand compensation…
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for U.S. fossil fuel restrictions through “tribunals not accountable to any domestic legal system.” A June 6 letter (here) notes that corporate lawyers, rather than judges, will decide investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) cases, citing TransCanada’s January NAFTA claim seeking $15 billion from the U.S. The TPP and TTIP would allow more companies to bring ISDS cases against the U.S., which would pose increased threats related to fracking, offshore drilling, oil and gas extraction on public lands, and fossil fuel pipelines, the organizations said. “Law firms specializing in ISDS are now explicitly advising corporations, including fossil fuel firms, to see ISDS as a ‘tool to assist lobbying efforts to prevent’ unwanted policies, as threats of costly ISDS cases can chill policy proposals,” the letter says.