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Environmental, Landowner Groups Respond to TransCanada’s Filing of NAFTA Suit Over Keystone XL Rejection

This weekend, TransCanada officially moved forward with a lawsuit against the United States under NAFTA, asking for $15 billion in damages because of President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

Under NAFTA, this suit, an attempt to charge American taxpayers billions for protecting their air and water, will be decided by a private, unaccountable tribunal.

Today at 1:30 pm CT / 2:30 EST, representatives from leading environmental and landowner groups will host a press call to respond to the filing of this suit and call on Congress to reject other polluter-friendly trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

    • WHAT: Press Call: Environmental, Landowner Groups Respond to TransCanada’s Filing of NAFTA Suit Over Keystone XL Rejection
    • WHO:
      • Jane Kleeb, President of Bold Alliance
      • Michael Brune, Executive Director of the Sierra Club
      • Bill McKibben, Co-founder of 350.org
    • WHEN: Today, June 27 at 1:30 p.m. CT / 2:30 p.m. ET
    • DIAL-IN: (PRESS—EMAIL mark@boldnebraska.org for call-in number and passcode)
    • QUOTES FROM SPEAKERS:
      • Jane Kleeb, President of Bold Alliance: “President Obama stood with farmers, ranchers and Tribal Nations when he rejected the risky KXL pipeline. TransCanada has no right to sue the American people on the terms of us standing up for property rights and the impacts of climate change. Since NAFTA, just like TPP, are governed by secret courts, we will be in the streets standing up for the American values of property rights and clean water and standing up to the TransCanada bullies.”
      • Michael Brune, Sierra Club executive director: “TransCanada’s attempt to make American taxpayers hand over more than $15 billion because the company’s dirty Keystone XL pipeline was rejected shows exactly why NAFTA was wrong and why the even more dangerous and far-reaching Trans-Pacific Partnership must be stopped in its tracks. The TPP would empower thousands of new firms operating in the U.S, including major polluters, to follow in TransCanada’s footsteps and undermine our critical climate safeguards in private trade tribunals. Today, we have a prime example of how polluter-friendly trade deals threaten our efforts to tackle the climate crisis, spotlighting the need for a new model of trade model that supports rather than undermines climate action. We urge our members of Congress to learn from this historic moment and commit to reject the TPP.”
      • Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org: “The fight against Keystone was democracy at its best–a defense of science and sanity that involved millions upon millions of Americans. That it can be overturned by three guys no one ever heard of or voted for, sitting in a room all by themselves, tells you everything you need to know about the fundamentally anti-democratic nature of these agreements. Anyone who supports the TPP after this has no excuses–TransCanada is making entirely clear what ‘free trade’ is all about.”

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