Public interest organizations argue that investor protections in the TPP could also allow claims that environmental standards in the U. S. and other countries are trade barriers. None of the current environmental provisions have been leaked, but the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) provides a good example of how environmental safeguards can be put at risk by trade agreements. NAFTA has been used by foreign companies to challenge U.S. environmental laws as "barriers to trade." In 2003, Glamis Gold, a Canadian mining company, used NAFTA provisions to sue the U.S. over California laws protecting the environment and cultural sites sacred to a Native American tribe. Though the United States ultimately won, the case dragged on for six years. As a result of NAFTA, the United States has had to battle corporate lawsuits totaling more than $1 billion.
http://www.ombwatch.org/node/11987
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