Saturday, March 15, 2014

No fracking way: How the EU-US trade agreement risks expanding fracking

Click here to access article by Pietje Vervest, Timothé Feodoroff, et al from Transnational Institute. (Note: it is rare that I post articles without reading the entire contents, but I have so much respect for this research institute that I will make an exception for this post which contains a link to an eight page PDF document available in three languages.)
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) covers a huge range of issues and sectors, including food safety, genetically modified products, toxic chemicals, highly polluting fuels and data protection. The talks threaten to weaken or roll-back democratically agreed safeguards put in place to protect the environment and citizens – for the sake of corporate profits.

The talks are likely to favour safeguards for corporate investments over safeguards for citizens and the environment, allowing companies to seek compensation when government decisions affect their profits. This could benefit companies seeking to exploit natural resources through hazardous technologies whose activities may be affected by environmental or health regulations.