25 signatures reached
To: President Obama, U.S. Congress
TPP: Trans-Pacific Partnership
As U.S. citizens of the United States, we call on you to reject the Trans-Pacific Partnership. This agreement would reduce U.S, business and jobs, override local and national laws, and increase greenhouse gas emissions through increased international shipping.
Why is this important?
The interests we support of democratically accountable governance, economic justice, public health, and environmental and global climate well being could be overridden by new international institutions where decisions could be made behind closed doors and without the participation of those who would live with the results. “Trade” pacts such as TPP, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) impose expansive constraints on federal, state and local governments with respect to many non-trade policies, from food and product safety to financial regulation to local development and access to essential services to climate change and the environment and more. These pacts also establish new rights for foreign investors to operate under deregulated terms in financial services, natural resource extraction, and other sensitive sectors. Effectively, these "trade" agreements shift an ever-increasing number of issues away from local decision-making bodies and into inaccessible foreign venues where few citizens or elected officials can follow.
TPP can and must be changed or replaced. It would impact an array of globalization issues, including implications for our jobs and wages; food, health and safety; environmental protection, economic justice, and democratic, accountable governance. It needs to be explained to the press, policymakers, and the public – building bottom-up pressure against its bad effects.