The NAFTA superhighway for Oklahoma?

September 14, 2007

Charlie Meadows, The Edmond Sun

EDMOND — Last month in one of my columns I wrote about a possible plan to lease our turnpike system to a private entity in what is referred to as a “public-private partnership” often called a PPP. My contention is that by doing little more than changing the management of our turnpike system from a quasi-government authority to the private sector would result in much higher turnpike fees. This is because the private sector management team would want to reap a big ole profit for its investment and efforts.

However, there is another possible intention for those supporting the PPPs and that is to provide the financial mechanism to extend the NAFTA super highway north of the Red River, through Oklahoma, on its way toward Kansas City and eventually Canada. To be more accurate it actually will be a multi-modal transportation corridor.

The plan is for the corridor to extend from the deep water port of Lazaro Cardenas on the Pacific side of Mexico, which is hundreds of miles South of our border, all the way to Canada as one of 80 independent but interconnected corridors throughout the three nations.

In Texas it is referred to as the Trans-Texas Corridor. The project has become controversial with the Texas Legislature passing a veto-proof, two-year moratorium on the project toward the end of this year’s session. Texas Gov. Rick Perry simply waited until the Legislature adjourned and then vetoed the legislation. Therefore, the massive project is proceeding with land being acquired, much of it through eminent domain takings.

With the corridor planned to be more than two football fields wide in some places it is expected to consume more than a million acres in Texas alone as it moves North, generally parallel to Interstate 35. The route north of Dallas has not been revealed at this time so we have no idea as to where it might cross the Red River. The plan calls for six lanes for autos, three each direction, two lanes each direction for trucks, multiple rail lines, utility-lines, pipelines and infrequent cross-overs. Just imagine the costs associated with cross-overs for a corridor that wide.

I like to refer to these corridors as the “cardiovascular system” necessary to create a “North American Union.” Critics claim this is an effort to create a “Supranational” regional government, where individual member nations will begin to lose their sovereignty and national identity to an all-consuming regional government much like the European Union.

If the critics are correct, I believe such a move will have a dramatic impact on our God-given rights, our liberties and our ability to pursue happiness by being able to choose our course in life and control our own private property.

Folks in central Oklahoma as well as Tulsa soon will have an opportunity to hear top-notch speakers on these issues. Speakers who have been to many planning meetings, conferences and have researched volumes of information by the proponents of these efforts.

On Sept. 28, just two weeks from today, David Stall, city manager of Shoreacres, Texas, will be doing a Power Point presentation on this subject in the auditorium inside the Davison American Heritage Building on the campus of Oklahoma Christian University on Memorial Road. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. and there is no charge to attend.

He will talk about the NAFTA I-35 superhighway, possible loss of U.S. sovereignty to courts outside of our judicial system, international financial consortiums, toll roads operating under 50- to 99-year leases, eminent domain confiscation of farm and ranch land, how the super corridors will limit access to local businesses and the financial impact on our communities.

The next day, Stall will be one of five speakers at the Defending America’s Sovereignty seminar in Tulsa on the same issue.

This is a really huge issue that could affect the lives of all Americans. Therefore I would highly recommend making every effort to attend at least one of these two meetings.

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CHARLIE MEADOWS is chairman of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee.