[CTC] ICYMI: Environmental Groups Warn of Threats of Trans-Pacific Partnership

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Contact: Dan Byrnes (Sierra Club): 202-495-3039 <tel:202-495-3039> or daniel.byrnes at sierraclub.org <mailto:daniel.byrnes at sierraclub.org>
 
ICYMI: Environmental Groups Warn of Threats of Trans-Pacific Partnership <https://content.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2015/10/icymi-environmental-groups-warn-threats-trans-pacific-partnership>
 
Today, trade ministers from the United States and the 11 other member nations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership announced they have reached a deal. Environmental groups that have long fought to expose the secretive deal for its threats to the environment and handouts to polluters released the following statements:
 
Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune <http://content.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2015/10/sierra-club-congress-should-reject-polluter-friendly-trans-pacific>: 
"The Trans-Pacific Partnership would empower big polluters to challenge climate and environmental safeguards in private trade courts and would expand trade in dangerous fossil fuels that would increase fracking and imperil our climate. The TPP’s environment chapter might look nice on the surface but will be hollow on the inside, and history gives us no reason to believe that TPP rules on conservation challenges such as the illegal timber or wildlife trade will ever be enforced."
 
National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) International Program Director Jake Schmidt:
“A full assessment must await the fine print. Until then, our position remains unchanged: We’ve learned that such agreements could have grave impacts on our bedrock environmental laws and public health protections.’’
 
350.org <http://350.org/> executive director May Boeve:
“TPP makes climate change worse. By handing even more power to Big Oil, letting massive corporations throw tantrum lawsuits at governments who dare to scale back emissions, and spreading fracking further around the world, there's no question that TPP is an absolute disaster for our climate. That's why so many people and organizations who care about climate change have repeatedly bashed this corporate giveaway; suggesting otherwise is nothing short of misleading cynicism. Decision-makers should know better than to try and distort our movement's position.”
 
Greenpeace research specialist Charlie Cray:
“This is a cynical, last-minute sop intended to divide the environmental community, and doesn’t change the fact that the TPP will likely do more harm than good.  There are better ways to tackle environmental problems than this. There is no way green-looking window-dressing can make up for a secretly negotiated trade agreement that, by design, empowers multinationals to undermine environmental standards.”
 
Friends of the Earth president Erich Pica <http://www.foe.org/news/news-releases/2015-10-the-us-cuts-an-ugly-deal-on-trans-pacific-trade-agreement>:
“Conservation provisions in the TPP environment chapter are narrow and will not be enforced. The TPP as a whole is a frontal assault on environmental and climate safeguards. The TPP investment chapter would allow firms to sue governments for billions if climate or environmental rules interfere with corporate profits. The TPP would stymie effective regulation of chemicals and food safety. It would expand US fossil fuel exports across the Pacific.”
 
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy Climate Director Ben Lilliston <http://www.iatp.org/documents/controversial-trade-deal-criticized-for-secrecy-benefiting-only-multinationals#sthash.d9cYhpjB.dpuf>:
“The TPP ignores climate change completely and this is a major setback,” said IATP’s Climate Director Ben Lilliston. “Past trade deals have driven an extractive mode of globalization that has led to mass deforestation, fossil fuel withdrawal and an energy-intensive industrial model of agriculture. Unfortunately, TPP is more of the same—an outdated, climate-damaging trade deal.”
 
Center for Biological Diversity senior counsel Bill Snape: 
“One of the most concerning black holes of the TPP is the interplay between science, public participation and toxics whereby multinationals such as Monsanto can make and trade pesticides or genetically modified seeds that kill wildlife, harm human health and threaten the entire food chain.”
 
Oil Change International Executive Director Stephen Kretzmann:
"The secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership puts the interests of large corporations and investors above the interests of the American people. When we hand big polluters the key to undermine climate policies, environmental laws, and workers' rights, everybody loses.”
 
Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter:
“As we have warned all along, the TPP will undermine food safety and our ability to protect our air and water from dirty practices such as fracking. There is nothing in the news about the final TPP text that changes any of that. It remains clear: you cannot be pro-TPP and pro-environment.”
 
SustainUs COP21 Delegation Leader Maria Langholz:
"The TPP is a huge step backward for the clean energy economy. It incentivizes new fossil fuel exploration and expands the power of  corporations to challenge national climate policies, including those included in the COP21 Agreement. We urge Congress to reject this deal and work towards trade agreements that prioritize our communities and climate over corporations."
 
U.S. Climate Plan Executive Director Evan Weber:
“The TPP is likely to provide fossil fuel companies and other polluters new tools to avoid regulations and fight policies designed to protect our climate and our communities. Negotiated in secret by corporations and governments, with public oversight and input expressly prohibited, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which this corporate giveaway gets us any closer to preserving a livable planet for future generations."
 
Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) President Carroll Muffett:
"For two decades, the United States and its trading partners have failed to effectively implement the environmental provisions in existing trade agreements. From NAFTA to the Peru FTA, the weakness hasn't been poor wording but lack of political will. Assuming that the environmental provisions of TPP will somehow fare better, when they are shepherded by the same agencies, and vocally opposed by many parties to the agreement, is a triumph of hope over experience. CIEL considers experience the better guide."
 
Green America Executive Co-Director Todd Larsen:
“The proposed agreement targets regulations aimed at protecting both people and planet, putting corporate profits over food safety and security. TPP will extend the corporate control of the worldwide food system by promoting biotechnology in the Pacific and furthering corporate intellectual property rights over nature. Local efforts to increase transparency in agricultural and regional food sourcing will be hindered, threatening efforts to build a more sustainable food landscape.”

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