Sensing Keystone XL Rejection, TransCanada Scopes NAFTA Lawsuit

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/08/10/sensing-keystone-xl-rejection-transcanada-scopes-nafta-lawsuit



Provisions in trade pact may provide legal basis for suing U.S. over tar sands pipeline

Sensing Keystone XL Rejection, TransCanada Scopes NAFTA Lawsuit
Nadia Prupis
Monday, August 10, 2015

~snip~

While the company has publicly maintained hope that Obama will grant it permission to build the pipeline, those close to the project say TransCanada expects a rejection and is quietly considering suing the government under the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), using articles in the pact that protect companies from discrimination, unfair or arbitrary treatment, and expropriation.

NAFTA also includes a mechanism known as the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), which allows corporations to sue a country for damages based on projected "lost profits" and "expected future profits." As Common Dreams has previously reported, there are no monetary caps to the potential award.

Experts have warned that TransCanada could bring a NAFTA challenge over Keystone XL. Natural Resources Defense Council international program director Jake Schmidt told Politico in February that such a case was "definitely a possibility."

Derek Burney, former Canadian ambassador to the U.S. and chief negotiator on the trade deal, as well as its U.S.-Canada predecessor, told Politico at the time, "If the pipeline is actually vetoed on so-called environmental grounds, I think there is a very strong case for a NAFTA challenge."