TPP Menaces US Food, Water, Property Rights - 450 Group Alliance

US lawmakers must reject the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement as it poses a direct threat to water and food quality and to property rights across the United States, a coalition of more than 450 civil society groups wrote in a letter to Congress.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The groups also requested the US Trade Representative to remove from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) any provision that empowers corporations to challenge government policies in extrajudicial tribunals.

"We strongly urge you to stand up for healthy communities, clean air and water, Indigenous peoples, property rights, and a stable climate by committing to vote no on the TPP," the letter stated on Monday.

The coalition includes the Sierra Club, Indigenous Environmental Network, Bold Alliance, Sustain US and Friends of the Earth, among others.

"Environmentalists across the country working to keep fossil fuels in the ground agree that toxic trade deals pose severe risks to the policies we depend on for clean air, clean water, and healthy communities," Sierra Club Responsible Trade Program Director Ilana Solomon said.