Sierra Club has a petition to stop Congressional fast-track for the Trans-Pacific Parternership (TPP), and that will probably stop the TPP, because in regular Congressional hearings the parts that have been kept secret would get exposed, which would make TPP very hard to approve. Look at what Wikileaks found in the TPP environment chapter, and in the intellectual property chapter. The U.S. is apparently lobbying for criminal offenses for even unintentional infringements of “copyright, related rights and trademarks” Yet there are no criminal sanctions for destroying our environment, and the draft TPP text even points out:

On the other hand, WTO rules do allow members to derogate from their obligations in some cases, for instance where a measure is aimed at the conservation of natural resources, provided certain conditions are met.

Do we want corporate profit to override our clean water and air and native plants and animals, not to mention our property rights?

Here’s the Sierra Club petition: The Trans-Pacific Partnership could leave a big fracking mess!

The TPP is being pushed by Ted Poe (R TX-02) of Houston as Chair of the U.S. House SUBCOMMITTEE ON TERRORISM, NONPROLIFERATION, AND TRADE. Houston is the home town of Spectra Energy, joint owner of Sabal Trail Transmission with NextEra, FPL’s parent company. Sabal Trail proposes a hundred-foot-wide gash through Alabama, Georgia, and Florida for a 36-inch pipeline to Florida’s coasts, where there are already at least two authorizations for LNG export operations.

TPP and would add Brunei, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Vietnam to existing U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) countries:

If TPP passes, China might join it. China wants fracked methane. China has already made deals in British Columbia, including one with Spectra’s LNG export terminal partner there, and is said to be making deals with Gulf of Mexico LNG export terminals. Since there are already at least two companies authorized for LNG export to FTA countries from Florida from places the Sabal Trail fracked gas would go, what would stop China from buying it?

Here’s another petition against TPP by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and some more reasons why to sign it.

No TPP. No pipeline.

-jsq

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