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So I was bothered to learn that while negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact were taking place near my home in Leesburg, I couldn't participate in--or even observe--the talks. This pact, the largest one ever conceived, could affect nearly every aspect of our lives, but its draft texts were available to only a few negotiators and a handful of advisers. Negotiations were conducted behind closed doors.
The trade pact is extremely important to the Sierra Club's 1.4 million members--and all people--since it could subject environmental and public-interest laws and safeguards to attack by foreign corporations; threaten our air and water with toxic pollution; and lead to more American jobs being shipped overseas.
On Sept. 9, I drove to the Lansdowne Resort where negotiators were helping to write trade rules. I spoke at a rally outside the resort about the environmental implications of the pact. But we were sequestered in a small patch of land half a mile from the building where negotiators met and surrounded by an unnecessarily large cohort of armed police officers.
Those who registered with U.S. Trade Representative were able to attend a stakeholders' briefing, but how is it possible to offer "constructive comments" on a text we've never seen? This kind of concealment doesn't allow a real conversation about how to engage in responsible trade.
Government officials tout the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a "21st-century agreement"--but there's nothing innovative about keeping the public in the dark.
We must restore basic principles of democracy to protect the public and the environment.
Allison Chin
Lansdowne
President, Sierra Club
