Corporations are capitalizing on provisions in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to circumvent environmental regulations, claims Public Citizen, a nonprofit watchdog group. In a new report, NAFTA Chapter 11 Investor-to-State Cases: Bankrupting Democracy, the group analyzes how the agreement’s investor protection provisions have been used. It documents 15 cases in which the “investor-to-state” dispute resolution provision has been used to challenge environmental laws, regulations, and government decisions at the national, state, and local levels. The provision renders NAFTA’s environmental protections “meaningless,” according to the report, which notes that it has even been used to trump the international Basel Convention that regulates trade in hazardous waste. To see the report, click here. —KELLYN S. BETTS