Re: [greenyes] CAFTA, NAFTA - National ZW Committee for Sierra Club

["Bruce Arkwright,Jr" <powerbysun@no.address>]

'On Point' on NPR two nights ago was talking about the
trade pacs but from the stand point of slave or Forced
Labor that is going on and not the rising standard of
living Bush is brainwashing the American people with.
Excuse me but where is all this (republican) morals
issue fall in to play?





--- Ann Schneider <schneiderann@no.address> wrote:

> Roger:
> 
> Good points.  Just to point out the Sierra Club is
> not against trade
> agreements.  We just want trade agreements that
> protect the environment
> and to be careful of trade agreements that will
> prevent the US and the
> states from enforcing their own environmental laws. 
> Since CAFTA has not
> been signed (ratified?) there is still time to make
> changes in the
> agreement(s) that protect the environment... and who
> knows, try to add
> what you have suggested below.  
> 
> Right now National SC is working up a list of how
> CAFTA might effect the
> recycling world.  I will post it as soon as I get
> it.  And I will forward
> your comments to National SC staffers who work on
> Global Trade Issues.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Ann Schneider
> Sierra Club, Loma Prieta Chapter Zero Waste Chair
> 
> Just an FYI, I've been given the go ahead by Sierra
> Club National to
> create a national Sierra Club group to help develop
> a zero waste policy
> for the Club, so if any of you GRRNers are also
> Sierra Club members and
> want to help me modify existing ZW policies for the
> SC and then to
> develop a strategy to educate all our chapters in
> the US and
> internationally, let me know.  We have no budget for
> conference calls
> yet, but if I can prove that we have a core group
> across the country then
> I can ask for money so we can develop this project.
> 
> I am working on somehow bringing Zero Waste to the
> first ever Sierra Club
> convention to be held in San Francisco this
> September.  I may only get a
> table for materials but will be contacting GRRN for
> help with materials
> for this opportunity to reach thousands of Sierra
> Club activists.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Tue, 10 May 2005 14:16:52 -0700 "Guzowski, Roger
> A"
> <guzowski@no.address> writes:
> > For folks sick of seeing my philosophical rants,
> delete this message 
> > now...
> >  
> > It seems to me that our current approach to
> fighting the ill effects 
> > of Free Trade Agreements is a lot like trying to
> stuff an 
> > already-deployed air bag back into the steering
> wheel.  With 
> > globalization, the push for an equal trading
> platform is here.
> >  
> > Rather than combating free trade, I think we need
> to look at using 
> > free trade to protect the environment.  I propose
> the following:
> > 
> > *        
> >         Lawsuits should be persued against every
> FTA-member nation 
> > that provides any form of government subsidy
> relating to the 
> > extraction of natural resources and against every
> corporation or 
> > business that takes advantage of such subsidies on
> the grounds that 
> > such subsidies are a violation of free trade. 
> > 
> > *        
> >         Lawsuits should be persued against every
> FTA member nation 
> > that provides any sort of government or legal
> protection to the 
> > owners of businesses from the repercussions of the
> actions of those 
> > businesses.  I think such a mechanism should be
> used to combat the 
> > very government-supported legislation that allows
> corporations and 
> > limited liability partnerships in which the owners
> of businesses are 
> > somehow absolved of the actions of those
> businesses.  Such 
> > government interference is a violation of free
> trade.
> > 
> > *        
> >         Lawsuits should be persued against every
> FTA-member nation 
> > that provides legal litigation caps (read
> government sponsored 
> > protections) which limit a businesses liability
> for damages, 
> > especially those with wide-reaching impacts such
> as oil spills and 
> > hazardous waste dumping.  Such government
> interference is a 
> > violation of free trade.
> > 
> > *        Lawsuits should be persued against every
> FTA-member nation 
> > that provides government support or subsidy for
> the transport of 
> > commercial products or feedstocks.  Such
> government interference is a 
> > violation of free trade.
> > 
> > With globalization, there does need to be a
> platform for 
> > international trade.  If nations and businesses
> decide that such a 
> > platform should be one based on trade free from
> government 
> > interference, that should be universally so.  Our
> current system is 
> > not free trade.  It is trade based on the
> selective removal of 
> > government programs.
> >  
> > I maintain that in a system free from all
> government interference, 
> > both subsidy and regulation, the economic system
> is one that 
> > supports the conservation of natural resources and
> environmental 
> > preservation.  To that degree, I support free
> trade.  
> >  
> > However, what we currently have in the various
> "free trade" 
> > agreements is not a system of free trade.  What we
> have is a system 
> > of selective regulation.  Rather than combat trade
> agreements and 
> > wish they weren't there, I think we need to accept
> global trade 
> > agreements and work to police them.  Regardless of
> whether the 
> > platform for global free trade agreements is free
> trade, selective 
> > regulation, or full government control, we need to
> work with that 
> > system to ensure that it is done in a way that
> protects the 
> > environment.
> >  
> > Just my cent and a half worth.
> >  
> > -Roger Guzowski
> > 
> > ________________________________
> > 
> > From: crra_members@no.address on behalf of
> Ann Schneider
> > Sent: Tue 5/10/2005 11:23 AM
> > To: crra_members@no.address;
> greenyes@no.address
> > Subject: [CRRA] CAFTA, NAFTA can it block recycle
> content and green 
> > purchasing ordinances
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Hi CRRA & GRRN:
> > 
> > Congress will be voting on the Central American
> Free Trade Act 
> > (CAFTA)
> > any day now.  I attended a Sierra Club workshop on
> the 
> > environmental
> > effects of CAFTA and was told that a company or
> country could file 
> > a
> > protest or lawsuit against a government agency
> that has a preference 
> > for
> > purchasing green products, e.g., post consumer
> paper or green 
> > computers.
> 
=== message truncated ===


A Solar Day not Used is a Energy Source Wasted. 
So how much solar have you used today?


		
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