THE WILLAMETTE FALLS
Willamette Falls Power Station was formed at the end of the Oregon Trail in 1888. It was the first station in North America to transmit power over electric lines between two cities. Before then, the falls were an important fishing and trading location for many tribes. After the power station was constructed, it became home to paper mills that are crumbling and falling into the river today. A tribal coalition plans to restore the falls to its pre-industrial condition with a new public access project on the river’s west side.
Water and the WTO
The World Trade Organization (WTO) conference was hosted in Seattle in 1999. It initiated one of the largest protests the city had ever seen. I never understood why my neighbors to the north were so agitated. As the world’s largest international economic organization with an overall objective to use trade to raise living standards, create jobs, and improve people’s lives, their goals sound more than reasonable. The intergovernmental organization provides a framework for countries to negotiate trade agreements and resolve differences, and it promotes free trade by reducing barriers to it, like tariffs. Don’t developing nations need our help? And don’t we like the inexpensive gadgets provided by companies that manufacture abroad?
Free trade sounded good to me, so why the protests? And why were tensions so high during this February’s annual WTO conference? The meeting revealed bad feelings between industrialized nations, like those between China and the United States, and the conflicts between industrialized nations and activists who want a greater say in rules managing their country’s trade.
Protesters view WTO as an organization devised to increase the profits of international corporations. Their regulations allowed foreign companies to take over critical services with little oversight. WTO rules say little about unfair trade practices like cartel agreements, price fixing, and the abuse of dominant position on the market. Economists Dan Rodrik and Ha Joon Chang and anthropologist Marc Edelman argue that the WTO “only serves the interests of multinational corporations, undermines local development, penalizes poor countries, [and] is increasing inequality.” All too many agreements have led to restricted access to food, water, and healthcare, causing large numbers of deaths.
I delved further into water rights and water and wastewater management systems to understand the relationship between the WTO, the World Bank, The International Monetary Fund, and international corporations repairing infrastructure problems. I label the WTO as the Fixer. The Fixer goes into a country to deregulate its industry, softening the reluctance of elected officials to protectionist policies. This opens the way for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to offer loans with interests that can tax a fragile economy to the hilt. With money guaranteed and oversight slight, international water cartels are willing to take over community water systems. This often leads to rising water rates and draining aquifers farmers have depended on for generations. Companies are able to acquire water rights to bottle and sell it back at 2,000 times the cost of getting it from a kitchen faucet or pumping it from a well.
Water is also vital to manufacturing. When it’s diverted to produce widgets, companies abuse the privilege by polluting the rivers with industrial waste, making the water inaccessible for livestock and human consumption. When diverted to large agriculture, small farmers losing water rights are forced off the land with nowhere to go. Peasant protests are becoming common. “Take agriculture out of WTO” is a familiar protest cry. Indigenous and peasant communities are also affected and are seen campaigning for rights to land, water, and governance of their own people.
Understanding the positive and negative aspects of the WTO is complex. International trade can reduce production costs, lower prices, and provide more choices. Looking at the U.S., you can understand what happens when production is outsourced to countries with struggling economies. It leaves our workers struggling to make a living wage. However, protections in affluent markets raise domestic prices and affect consumers in poorer countries. When global food imports are sky-high, the least developed countries that depend on them suffer. According to an article in Sage Magazine, “Since 2004, attention in the WTO has shifted from overarching human rights concerns toward a focus on technical detail constraining developing countries from acting to respect, protect, and fulfill the right to food.” This goes for water as well.
This review scratches the surface of a multifaceted issue that forms a backdrop for The Water Factor, a Rightfully Mine eco-thriller about corporate crime. The book will be available to pre-order on Amazon. Look for my announcement next Saturday.
Please share your thoughts below.
The Willamette Falls Painting is in a private collection. To see other works by Eichinger, go to www. echingerfineart.com or for information, contact me at marilynne@eichingerfineart.com.
The Water Factor will be available for pre-sale on Amazon by April 1st in paperback and ebook editions. Help me make its launch a success.
Book Launch — April 28th, during the Earth Day Celebration between 11:45 and 2:30 at 1211 SW Main Street. I will introduce the book and discuss water issues during a half-hour talk and be available for signings afterward..
The event is sponsored by the Community for Earth and will inspire you to activism for a healthy planet.
References:
Website (2024) World Trade Organization: Promoting Free Trade. Academy 4SC. Retrieved from https://academy4sc.org/video/world-trade-organization-promoting-free-trade/?
Website (2024) Who we are. World Trade Organization. retrieved from https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/who_we_are_e.htm#:~:text
Hawkes, S.& Plahe, K (2018) Worlds apart: The WTO’s Agreement on Agriculture and the Right for food in developing countries. Sage Publications. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0192512112445238?icid=int.sj-full-text
Website (2024): The World Trade Organization should reorient from rule-making to dialogue. Retrieved from https://www.chathamhouse.org/2024/03/world-trade-organization-should-reorient-rule-making-dialogue