Posted on 06/07/2004 10:22:46 AM PDT by madfly
To: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor, Environment Reporter
Contact: Martin Wagner of Earthjustice, 510-550-6700, Marcos Orellana of the Center for International Environmental Law, 202-785-8700, Howard Mann of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, 613-286-5383
News Advisory:
WHO: Three-Member Arbitral Panel administered by ICSID (International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes)
WHAT: Hearing in the case Methanex Corporation v. United States of America
WHERE: Ground Floor of the MC Building of the World Bank (adjacent to the Preston Auditorium), Entrance to broadcast will be the corner of 19th and H Streets, N.W. Washington, DC
WHEN: Beginning Monday, June 7, 2004, probably running one week at least.
Members of the media and the public who wish to attend this hearing may fill out this form http://www.worldbank.org/icsid/MethanexNR_Form.pdf and fax it to ICSID at 202-522-2615 or 202-522-2027 to ensure priority seating.
BACKGROUND:
National and state laws protecting the environment and public health are increasingly coming under fire from foreign corporations using special provisions in the North American Free Trade Agreement. NAFTA's investment chapter gives foreign investors unprecedented power to challenge these laws and, some companies claim, to extract compensation from governments when environmental protection measures affect the value of their investment.
In 1999, California decided to phase out MTBE, a gasoline additive suspected by the World Health Organization of being carcinogenic. MTBE had made its way into the groundwater supplies of hundreds of communities across the state, making the water undrinkable. The MTBE ban went into effect January 1, 2004.
Methanex Corporation, the Canadian parent company of a US manufacturer of methanol (one component of MTBE) has brought a $970 million suit under NAFTA against the United States, demanding compensation for profits and business opportunities it claims to have lost because of California's phase-out. This is a landmark case, raising issues that will have far-reaching implications for government's ability to regulate in the public interest in areas such as public health and the environment.
For that reason, environmental groups on both sides of the border fought successfully for the right to present arguments in the case. These groups -- Earthjustice on behalf of Bluewater Network, Communities for a Better Environment, and the Center for International Environmental Law; and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (Canada) -- have already scored one important victory: no other NAFTA investment tribunal has ever agreed to accept arguments from non-disputants. In their submissions they argued, among other things, that international law requires the tribunal to respect the right of governments to protect important public values like the right to clean water.See http://www.earthjustice.org/news/documents/4-04/MethanexAmicusSubmission.pdf and http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2004/trade_methanex_submissions.pdf
A hearing in the case of Methanex Corporation v. United States of America is scheduled to take place before a three-member arbitral tribunal beginning on Monday, June 7, 2004. In only the second case of this type of openness in a NAFTA investment dispute, the hearing will be broadcast live in its entirety at the World Bank premises described above.
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/© 2004 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/
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please ping your list!
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How are you?
BTTT
Oh, doing better, thanks.
ping
BTT!!!!!!
NAFTURD stinks.
This is a huge can of worms.
Time to circle the wagons and lock and load.
If this were not so pitiful, it would be funny. Any more "trade" agreements and enviro nazi bullying bumping heads may give the rest of us a break! I hope they all eat each other alive and leave the rest of us alone.
just wrong
Unfortunately, my hard drive with the list is non op at the moment. I will do so as soon as I can.
Precious. I say we put all the free trade and enviro whackos together in a cage and let them scratch each other's eyes out.
LOL! That would be poetic justice.
This is BS.
Why is Methanex sueing the US for something California supposedly did?
It's probably because of some legaleeze mumbo jumbo on page 5 MILLION in the Endangered Species Act.
Excuse me...NAFTA....I forget which volume of worthless laws, treaties, regulations I was ticked off at the moment. So much BS, so little time.
Interesting. Looks like there is a potential for US enviromental law to be overturned - not by over regulated americans, but by foreign companies deprived of profit. This is Alice in Wonderland stuff for sure!
some info,
Canadian Methanex is claiming that the MTBE
ban is really a decision by California
to use ethanol from -->US<-- farmers,
''''unfairly'''' favoring the US.
I can just see it: Foreign corporations will successfully cite the fifth amendment for a regulatory taking, where American citizens are routinely ignored.
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