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From Sierra Club Action Daily, Vol. II #30, Feb. 26, 1999 "That's why we have elected officials, so we don't have to worry. It's like that rainforest scare a few years back. Politicians saw there was a problem and they fixed it, now everything is fine" -- Homer Simpson Contents: HOPE FOR AFRICA, NOT NAFTA The Corporate Council for Africa, a coalition of some of America's biggest polluters, wants a new license to drill, mine and export Africa's natural resources wealth. The license is a piece of legislation called the "African Growth and Opportunity Act" (HR 434). We call it "the NAFTA for Africa." Far from promoting African development, the NAFTA for Africa would withdraw tariff-free access to the U.S. market for African exports UNLESS Africa opens up to further "investment" by transnational oil, mining, and logging companies. To get a picture of what more oil "investment" would look like, consider Royal Dutch Shell's operations in Nigeria's Ogoniland. Shell's polluting ways sparked protests by the local Ogoni people which lead to the arrest and execution of Ogoni leader Ken Saro-Wiwa. No wonder that South African President Nelson Mandela declared, "this is not acceptable" when the NAFTA for Africa was first unveiled last year. Fortunately, there is now "HOPE for Africa" -- and we mean that literally. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-Ill.) has offered a progressive alternative -- the Human Rights, Opportunity, Partnership, and Empowerment, or "HOPE," for Africa Act (HR 772). Rep. Jackson's bill would combine generous trade benefits with guarantees that development would benefit the African people and protect the environment. It would provide comprehensive relief of Africa's crushing burden of $230 billion in foreign debt, reducing the enormous pressure to exploit and export the region's rapidly shrinking natural resources. And it would require foreign corporations operating in Africa to adhere to internationally recognized labor rights and to developed- country environmental standards. TAKE ACTION NAFTA for Africa, the so-called African Growth and Opportunity Act (HR 434), awaits a vote in the full House Ways and Means Committee after approval by the House International Relations Committee last week. It could go to the House floor later this month. Please call your congressional representative today to urge opposition to this bill and encourage them to join the growing list of co-sponsors of the HOPE for Africa Act (HR 772). Call (202) 224-3121 to reach the Capitol Switchboard. And please send the following letter-to-the-editor to your local newspaper. One published letter-to-the-editor equals 100 constituent letters to a congressional office! For more information, contact SAMPLE LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR To the Editor: Later this month, Congress could face a choice between the failed trade policies of the past and a new, progressive alternative. The African Growth and Opportunity Act (a more accurate name would be the "NAFTA for Africa") would open up Africa to foreign investment by transnational oil, mining, and logging companies. But without strong environmental protections in place, the increased investment would simply destroy the natural resources -- the farmland, pure water and forests -- that the vast majority of Africans depend on. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. of Illinois has a better idea. His "HOPE for Africa" Act would provide generous new access to the U.S. market for African products. But by requiring a high level of African content in these goods, Rep. Jackson's bill would ensure that the benefits go to Africa's working people and not to transnational clothing companies that use Africa to transship clothing made in China. Rep. Jackson's HOPE for Africa Act would also relieve Africa's crushing $230 billion in foreign debt. The debt was incurred by corrupt leaders, but it is the African people who make payments with their blood, sweat and tears. Debt reduction would also reduce pressure to rapidly exploit the region's precious natural resources to pay off foreign creditors. I hope that Rep. [name of your representative] will oppose the NAFTA for Africa and support HOPE for Africa instead. February 10, 1999 Don't Trade Away Africa's Environment Dear Representative: On behalf of the Sierra Club's more than half-million members, I urge you to oppose the African Growth and Opportunity Act ("NAFTA for Africa") and to support the HOPE for Africa Act instead. Last fall Congress defeated fast track legislation as the first step toward forging a new, progressive trade policy that would guarantee protections for working families and the environment alongside any new trading privileges for business. The NAFTA for Africa represents the failed status quo trade policy that has lost the support of the American people and was rejected last fall with the defeat of fast track. The HOPE for Africa Act represents the first, bold step toward creating a new, progressive trade policy for the twenty-first century. The NAFTA for Africa would pressure African countries into handing over their minerals, oil, and timber to transnational corporations by threatening to withdraw the low tariffs now granted for African exports to the United States under the US Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). Without strong environmental and labor standards, increased foreign investment by transnational oil, mining, and logging companies would destroy the natural resources -- the farmland, pure water, and forests -- that the vast majority of Africans depend on for sustainable development. The NAFTA for Africa would: encourage the kind of irresponsible and unaccountable investment represented by Royal Dutch Shell's oil operations in Nigeria's Ogoniland. Shell has polluted the land and water, destroying Ogoni farmland and spreading disease, while propping up the country's military dictatorship with oil revenues. The NAFTA for Africa would spur investment by foreign mining and oil companies that have already displaced thousands from their homes without recourse to law, ignored Africa's weak environmental laws, and polluted the air, soil, and water with mine wastes, mercury, and cyanide. increase tropical deforestation by foreign logging companies in Central Africa, where deforestation rates already exceed those of Brazil. In addition to destroying forests that help to curb global warming and provide clean water to Africa's farms and cities, industrial logging could expose the African people to terrible disease risks. According to The New York Times, the deadly Ebola virus was recently unleashed in Zaire and Gabon after foreign logging companies cut their way into untouched, primary forests, exposing humans to the forest animals that harbor the disease. harm Africa's ability to benefit from new foreign investment by requiring cuts in corporate taxes and government spending. With few options for taxes to support needed public services, such essentials as public health and education would almost certainly be slashed. In contrast, the HOPE for Africa Act would offer Africa a partnership for equitable and sustainable development that could serve as a model for a new, progressive American trade policy. In place of the NAFTA for Africa's meager trade benefits, HOPE for Africa would open the US market to the wide variety of goods listed under the Lome Treaty in which the US is not a competitor, would grant new access for African textiles and apparel while protecting the rights of workers and the environment, and would not set onerous, new conditions for continued GSP preferences. In addition, HOPE for Africa would: provide comprehensive relief of Africa's crushing burden of $230 billion in foreign debt. Debt relief would allow Africa to re-direct its own resources toward priority development, health, education, and environmental needs. And debt relief would reduce the enormous pressure to recklessly exploit and export the region's rapidly shrinking natural resources. provide adequate foreign assistance through the Development Fund for Africa and through the US Agency for International Development. Hope for Africa requires that such assistance be spent in consultation with the intended beneficiaries, the African people, and would be directed toward education, micro-credit, health, environmental protection, and other priority goals. ensure that foreign corporations operating in Africa adhere to internationally recognized labor rights and to developed country environmental standards. Hope for Africa would give US citizens access to US courts to enforce these obligations. The Hope for Africa Act offers the opportunity to launch a new, progressive trade policy in partnership with the African people that promotes equitable and sustainable development for all. The NAFTA for Africa offers only more of the same, failed policies of the past. We urge you to support the Hope for Africa Act and to reject the NAFTA for Africa. Sincerely, Carl Pope FOR FURTHER INFORMATION... Sierra Club Legislative Hotline: 202-675-2394 Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club |
