This would, in turn, contribute to the destruction of the green Northern Forests and threaten one of the world's largest aquifers across the Great Plains.
"[Obama] did the right thing, made a discretionary public policy decision. And now TransCanada, which has invested…nearly $3 billion in this pipeline project, is demanding $15 billion from the American taxpayers in compensation for having their investment expectations thwarted" Waren tells Radio Sputnik's Loud & Clear.
She stresses that the trade tribunal consists of corporate lawyers and is even more powerful than the US Supreme Court, for its decisions cannot be appealed.
"If we pass a law to protect interests of the public…any kind of law that interferes with their ability to make a profit…these trade tribunal judges can make decisions that would favor their corporations in future cases. So this is really one of the most egregious parts of these trade agreements," she says.
Waren notes that "free" trade is so "overwhelmingly unpopular" that officials are not even talking about it. This includes Barack Obama, who will not focus on it during the summit for fear of causing political damage for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton..
"They are going to try to push it through in the ‘lame duck' session after the election," he says. "Talk about no democracy."
