[CTC] Green opposition grows for Pacific pact

[Arthur Stamoulis]

http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2015/11/06/stories/1060027585

TRADE:
Green opposition grows for Pacific pact

Corbin Hiar, E&E reporter
Published: Friday, November 6, 2015

An influential environmental group with close ties to the Obama
administration yesterday reversed course on its support for a landmark U.S.
trade deal with 11 other Pacific Rim nations.

"Now that the text of the Trans-Pacific-Partnership is available to the
public, it is disappointingly clear that this is not the tougher language
we had hoped for," Jamie Rappaport Clark, the president and CEO of
Defenders of Wildlife, said in a statement.

"The environment chapter is weak and fails to provide the necessary
requirements and stronger penalties desperately needed to better fight
poaching, protect wildlife habitat and shut down the illegal wildlife
trade," she added. "The agreement also leaves our own domestic
environmental laws vulnerable to legal challenge internationally, outside
of our own judiciary system."

In October, when the conclusion of the negotiations was announced,
Defenders supportedthe then-under-wraps TPP because negotiators had said
that it elevated the challenge of wildlife trafficking alongside
environmental problems, such as pollution and fuel subsidies.

Clark, a former director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, initially called
the pact "an important step toward global cooperation to protect many
imperiled species of wildlife."

But yesterday, she slammed the "ridiculous" omission of climate change from
the environmental chapter and urged Congress to reject the TPP. The change
of tune puts her group firmly in line with most other environmental groups,
which railed against the trade pact as soon as it was unveiled for similar
reasons (Greenwire, Nov. 5).

The loss of support from Defenders is particularly notable given its strong
connection to this and former Democratic administrations.

Three high-ranking Obama administration officials hail from Defenders.
Meanwhile, Clark and Don Barry, the group's senior vice president for
conservation programs, were powerful players on environmental issues during
the Clinton administration (Greenwire, May 1).

The deal includes 29 other chapters that would lower tariffs on thousands
of goods and services, including beef, pork, dairy and automobiles.

The Obama administration has long said the TPP would be good for U.S.
businesses and the environment (E&E Daily, April 17).

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826
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