Mainers stepped off the bus at W 86th St to join a steady stream of folks flowing towards the west side of Central Park — queuing up for the People’s Climate March. The throng extended down to 59th, as sprawling and grand as its vision: “To change everything, we need everyone.” The largest climate march in history, PCM included 162 countries and 2,646 events. “The debate is over, the facts are in, taking action is a moral necessity.” As I edged along the sea of people, the queue expanded to fill the entire road, crowding onto the sidewalk and then flowing across it. It got to be slow going. My backpack shoved someone’s arm. Straining to spot any open space, I came face to face with a sign: Take Action: No Fast Track! I knew just what that sign meant. Simultaneously, there was the moment of silenceorganized to honor those who are most affected by global warming. The crowd was then instructed to make as much noise as possible-in effect, ringing a climate alarm. Whilst that quiet stillness enveloped me, my eyes were riveted on that Fast Track sign. Suddenly the raucous “climate alarm” welled up all around. In that din, it felt as if I were joining a critical mass converging on down to 34th St. to raise concern about Fast Track, climate and free trade agreements in a spectacular fashion.

In reality, many people aren’t familiar with what “Fast Track” is as it pertains to trade. Fast Track obligates Congress to vote yes or no for free trade agreements, allowing only minimal discussion and permitting no amendments. Trade agreements have had passage without Fast Track. But trade agreements currently under negotiation have parts in them that are not very popular-which makes their passage difficult unless they are offered as a “package deal,” bundled together and then Fast Tracked.

One of those unpopular parts, “investor-state,” grants foreign corporations the right to sue governments for policies and actions that allegedly reduce the value of their investments .Investor State Dispute Resolution creates a supranational legal system that supersedes U.S. law, it prevails over local, state and federal democratically enacted U.S. law. Due to secrecy of the negotiations regarding the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Treaty (TTIP), it might seem as if the agreements are inevitable, by the time they are offered for public scrutiny they’re completely written, there is no opportunity to remove Investor State. But when the United States delicately extracted the word “climate” from the leaked TPP Environment Chapter text , it surely was stepping with denial shoes into something ugly. A paradox: the sovereign United States is peddling trade policy which interferes with the current and future policy space that legislators and governments need for climate adaptation and mitigation measures.

Real life examples: A town voted for a moratorium against fracking beneath the St. Lawrence River. Canada was sued by LonePine,Inc, the moratorium interfered with their right to frack. A Swedish energy firm sued Germany for future losses that it may sustain when Germany decided to phase out its nuclear power program following the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Imagine, under TTIP, a European power generation company operating in a RGGI member state, could challenge a future tightening of the RGGI cap on GHG emissions from the power sector. “Buy Local” provisions are “barriers” to trade. Foreign firms have already pocketed more that $430 million in taxpayer money via Investor-State cases. Some 70,000 additional firms are slated to be afforded these greater rights under the upcoming TTIP.

What now? What next? Fast Track, a “Smart Track” likely will rise up after the election. President Obama is expected to make an announcement about the trade agreements when he visits Asia next month. Do Maine congressional legislators have clear positions on Fast Track? Investor- State? If it’s true that the next decade is the deciding decade for our youth, we surely need to stand up against the ratcheting force of Fast Track and the new free trade agreements that are about to knock on our front door. This time,for them and for the climate, it’s up close and personal. And we need everyone.

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Martha Spiess is a member of Peaceworks. She lives in Freeport.