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San Diego Chapter, Sierra Club
February 10, 2001

Responsible Trade Program
Urgent Action Alert

NAFTA = Newt and What You Can Do About It

Nothing is more vital to a healthy life than clean air and safe water. Yet to benefit global corporations, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) contains provisions that jeopardize our hard-won environmental safety laws.

NAFTA actually contains provisions similar to those in Newt Gingrich's Contract with America that would allow corporations to sue governments if environmental laws get in the way of profits. Under these NAFTA rules, governments could be intimidated out of adopting important environmental laws and taxpayers could be forced to pay billions of dollars to corporate polluters to keep our air and water clean.

Already, a Canadian chemical company has used these NAFTA provisions to sue the United States for $1 billion because California banned a carcinogenic gasoline additive made by the company that is leaking from gasoline storage tanks and poisoning the state's drinking water.

The Bush administration now wants to expand NAFTA's environmental peril by creating a Free Trade Area of the Americas that would cover the entire Western Hemisphere. Yet the FTAA has been negotiated in total secrecy. An upcoming "Summit of the Americas" in Quebec on April 20 will push this trade deal toward completion, without any debate in Congress or the media.

TAKE   ACTION

Please write to your congressional representatives to urge the Bush administration to "release the text" of the FTAA so the public can properly debate its terms.

Addressing correspondence:

To a Senator:		To a Representative:
The Honorable (full name)		The Honorable (full name)
United States Senate		United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510		Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative/Senator (last name):

I am writing to ask that you urge President Bush to use his executive authority to release the draft text of the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas. The FTAA would expand NAFTA to all the countries of the Western Hemisphere. But expanding NAFTA could do untold damage to the environment.

Already, corporate polluters have used NAFTA to sue the United States for damages because California enforced environmental laws that might have made a small dent in polluters' profits. Corporations could use these "pay the polluter" rules to discourage environmental, health, and safety laws across the country and cost taxpayers billions of dollars.

I think its wrong that trade agreements like NAFTA and the FTAA can hurt our environment and are negotiated in secret. Please urge President Bush to use his executive authority to release the text of the FTAA.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME

For more information, write to Dan Seligman.

From the Sierra Student Coalition's
"Student Action on the Global Economy" (SAGE) Campaign
URGENT ACTION ALERT - 2/8/01

NO TO THE FTAA! MAKE TRADE CLEAN, GREEN, AND FAIR!

During the President's Day Recess, from February 16 - 26, all our Representatives from Congress will be back in their home districts. NOW is the time to get together a group of fair trade activists and set up a visit with your elected officials while they are back home. This will probably be your best shot at having a meeting with your actual member of Congress in the near future, not just one of their aides. Now is the time to bring your concerns about the Free Trade Area of the Americas to their attention -- and ask that they take action about it. The sooner we can bring these issues to their attention, the better the chance that we can out-shout the corporations!

If you schedule a lobby visit, there are two critical things that should be brought up:
  1) Your concerns about how the FTAA would threaten our environmental standards
  2) Releasing the Text of the FTAA.

1) Trade agreements like the FTAA have lead to the weakening of our wildlife, food safety, clean air, and clean water protections in the past.

The FTAA would just speed up this process. The FTAA would also encourage corporations to escape our environmental standards by moving to countries whose standards are lax or nonexistent.

Although we don't know what exactly is in the FTAA (see "Release the Text" below), it is expected that it will contain many of the same provisions that made NAFTA bad for the environment. Specifically, the FTAA would threaten our hard-won environmental and labor standards with its "investor rules." In effect, under the FTAA we would be forced to pay polluters not to pollute! Already, under NAFTA, California faces a lawsuit that would force it to choose between paying huge amounts of money to corporations or weakening their laws designed to protect clean water. Under the FTAA, this paying of "protection money" for our environment and public health would only increase.

2) The FTAA has been under negotiation since 1994, but still nobody but the negotiators and the 500 or so industry representatives on "trade advisory boards" know what is in the FTAA. It's being kept secret from the general public and even members of Congress! The "rough draft" of the FTAA is almost complete, and once it is done it will be hard to change. It's time the American public finds out what their government is doing! It's time that the details of the FTAA be put out in the open, where we can have an honest debate about them (and so that we can fight it more effectively!!!).

Urge your representative to put pressure on the Bush administration to release the text of the FTAA. Further negotiations will be taking place starting April 20 at the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, Canada. The text of the FTAA should be released no later than March 20, 2001, thirty days before the summit.

To find out who your Representative is and to get the phone number of their District Office, go to www.congress.org and type in your zip code.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

This is a coalition effort! Chances are there are already other "fair trade activists" in your area who are planning lobby visits. To get hooked up with activists in your area, contact Nathan Wyeth with the Sierra Student Coalition at 301.656.8773 OR Dan Seligman at 202.675.2387.

For more information about the FTAA and Fast Track, go to www.sierraclub.org/trade/ or www.tradewatch.org.

TALKING POINTS:
So here I am in this meeting -- what do I say?

Concerns about the FTAA

• In the past, trade agreements have been used to weaken protection for endangered wildlife and food safety, and have threatened our clean air and clean water standards.
• The FTAA's "investor rules" are perhaps the most odious threat -- under them states and countries would in effect be forced to pay polluters not to pollute. Corporations could sue for compensation if any new law, environmental or other, hurt their profits. Taxpayers would be forced to pay polluters billions of dollars not to pollute!
• The FTAA would lead to further environmental destruction in Central and South America, as corporations are lured there by lax or nonexistent environmental, labor, and human rights laws.
• Ask your representative what they will do to ensure that any trade agreements we make are designed to not just give rights to corporations but to make trade "clean, green, and fair."

"Release the Text!" Talking Points

• The Free Trade Area of the Americas has been being negotiated since 1994, and its basic terms could soon be set in stone, but still nobody but the negotiators and the industry representatives that advise them know what is in the FTAA.
• Not even members of Congress know what is in the agreement, but it will soon become a big domestic issue. This is something that will affect all of us on a daily basis - people deserve to know what their government is doing!
• It's time that we get the information out into the open, so that we can start a fair and honest debate about the FTAA.
• While there are legitimate reasons to keep details under wraps early on, the "rough draft" of the FTAA is nearly completed and it is time that people know what their government is doing.
• Urge your Representative to urge President Bush to release the text of the FTAA before the Summit of the Americas in April, when further negotiations will be taking place.

Lobbying Tips

• When making an appointment, state the subject to be discussed, how long you'd like to meet for (ten or fifteen minutes are usually sufficient), and how many people will be attending. Make it clear that you wish to meet with your Representative in their home district during the February recess (Feb. 16-26).
• Knowing the facts is always good, but you don't have to be an expert on international trade to get your point across. The most important thing is to convey your passion - show that you are just a regular constituent and you care strongly about this issue.
• If you don't know the answer to a question, don't fake it. Just say, "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure." Say that you can find out and get back to them. Then, do find out and do get back to them.
• Present the facts in an orderly, polite manner. Lay out clearly what your concerns are with the FTAA. Explain why the text of the FTAA should be released to the public. Ask your Representative what action they plan to take regarding these issues. It is always good to be familiar with the counter-arguments that are used in favor of "free trade."
• If they tell you that they are not sure or have not made up their mind on an issue, ask if you can give them a call back in a week to find out if they have made a decision.
• If you have fact sheets, leave them when you go. Be sure to thank whomever you meet with for their time, and ask for favorable consideration.
• Writing a thank you letter afterwards can help a lot in developing a good relationship with your Representative -- one that will come in handy in the future.

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Nathan Wyeth
Trade Campaign Coordinator
SAGE- Student Action on the Global Economy
Sierra Student Coalition
301.656.8773
nathanwyeth@mcsea.org
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"The people that stand outside and [protest]... they make me want to vomit."
  - Michael Moore, Director General- WTO
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Hell no to NAFTA expansion! www.stopftaa.org www.oqp2001.org
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