WTO Opponents Unfurl Five-Story Banner in Downtown Seattle
11/29/99
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Title: WTO Opponents Unfurl Five-Story Banner in Downtown Seattle
Source: Rainforest Action Network
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: November 29, 1999
SEATTLE- In a virtuoso display of technical climbing, five activists
from Rainforest Action Network scaled a giant construction crane
downtown and unfurled a massive banner at sun-up protesting World
Trade Organization (WTO) anti-democratic policies. The banner depicts
two "one way" traffic arrows pointing opposite directions -- one
labeled "Democracy," the other "WTO."
At noon all five climbers came down from the crane of their own
accord, and were arrested along with a safety coordinator. All six
were charged with misdemeanor trespass and reckless endangerment.
Arrested were John Sellers and Harold Linde, both 33, Michael Sowle
(ground support), 35, and Shannon Wright, 33, all from the San
Francisco Bay Area; and Ian Burke, 22, of Seattle.
"The WTO has already weakened the U.S. Clean Air Act and the
Endangered Species Act. If it adds logging under its jurisdiction we
jeopardize all of the forest protection laws U.S. citizens have
fought hard to pass," said climber Harold Linde.
Jennifer Krill, WTO campaigner for Rainforest Action Network, added:
"For decades Environmentalists have asked folks to think globally and
act locally, but I don't believe irresponsible global trade was what
we had in mind. Rainforest Action Network is here in Seattle because
the stakes are too high for us to stay home."
WTO trade provisions take precedence over the laws of nations,
shifting power away from local communities and governments and giving
it to corporations. The WTO is fundamentally flawed because it
develops far-reaching policies without public participation. These
policies are prioritized only by their benefit to profit, without
consideration for local economies, the environment, labor and human
rights. WTO's measures to expedite trade in forest products will
increase consumption without concurrently implementing conservation
measures. This makes WTO a direct threat not only to the world's
remaining forests, but also to individual and national rights.