July, 11 2011, 05:05pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Kelly Trout, 202-222-0722, ktrout@foe.org;
Nick Berning, 202-222-0748, nberning@foe.org
Friends of the Earth Announces Opposition to US-Colombia Trade Pact
Agreement’s investment chapter threatens environment
WASHINGTON
Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica had this statement at a rally in opposition to the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement held in front of the White House today:
"Friends of the Earth calls on Congress and President Obama to reject the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, along with proposed agreements with Korea and Panama. These pending trade deals are based on a failed model that has harmed the environment and workers.
"These agreements would grant expansive new rights to foreign investors to sue governments before international tribunals for the cost of complying with environmental and other public interest regulations. Consider the investment suit that resulted from CAFTA. Pacific Rim, a multinational corporation, sought to mine for gold in El Salvador, using dangerous cyanide leach methods. This threatened the water supply of poor communities. Communities fought back, local activists were murdered, but finally the people of El Salvador won new safeguards from their government. But Pacific Rim sued the Salvadoran government through an international tribunal, demanding millions of dollars for this alleged violation of its property rights.
"Now the United States Congress is considering a free trade agreement with Colombia that is very similar to CAFTA. Under the investment chapter of the Colombia agreement, the governments of both parties could be forced to pay to regulate in the public interest, as if environmental regulations were a government 'taking' of real property needed to widen a highway for which the government must pay the owners fair value. The fact that an attack like this would even be possible highlights what is wrong with this trade agreement model. We strongly urge the president and Congress to reject more harmful trade agreements."
Friends of the Earth fights for a more healthy and just world. Together we speak truth to power and expose those who endanger the health of people and the planet for corporate profit. We organize to build long-term political power and campaign to change the rules of our economic and political systems that create injustice and destroy nature.
(202) 783-7400LATEST NEWS
Why Can't We Fund Universal Public Goods? Blame the Tax-Dodging Billionaire Nepo Babies
"In 2024, these billionaire families used their enormous wealth to make record-breaking political contributions to secure a GOP trifecta," reads a new report.
Dec 13, 2024
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Along with Mellon and Koch, the report profiles Samuel Logan of the Scripps media dynasty; Nicola Peltz-Beckham, daughter of billionaire investor Nelson Peltz; Gabrielle Rubenstein, whose family has made its fortune in private equity; and President-elect Donald Trump's son, Eric Trump.
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Without loopholes included the stepped up basis tax cut, the current estate tax on billionaires and centimillionaires would yield enough revenue to fund universal childcare, preschool, and paid family leave for U.S. workers, with hundreds of billions of dollars left over, according to ATF's report.
The wealthy heirs profiled in the report and their families are some of the Republican Party's top donors—contributing hundreds of millions of dollars to candidates including Trump in the hopes of securing even more tax cuts.
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