[CTC] Admin slams greens for opposing Trans-Pacific deal

[Arthur Stamoulis]

E&E News: TRADE: Jewell slams greens for opposing Trans-Pacific deal 
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/04/05/stories/1060035087 <http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/04/05/stories/1060035087>
 
Corbin Hiar, E&E reporter
Published: Tuesday, April 5, 2016
 
Many environmentalists wrongly want Congress to block the Trans-Pacific Partnership because they haven't done their homework on the trade deal, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell suggested yesterday.
 
"A lot of environmental groups have not really dug into the content of the TPP," she told Greenwire after a forum on combatting wildlife trafficking at the National Geographic Society. Jewell and other Obama administration officials emphasized at the event that the sweeping agreement between the United States and 11 Asia-Pacific countries would help curb the trade in endangered species and products made from them (E&ENews PM, April 4).
 
"There has been inertia among environmental groups going back for many years that has generally been anti-trade and trade agreements," she said after the event. "I've spoken with a number of environmental groups that have come out against saying, 'Have you looked at the language, do you understand what it does?' I would generally say the answer is no."
 
Jewell acknowledged that "it may not be perfect" but emphasized that it was "really unprecedented" to have an enforcement mechanism to punish international violators of wildlife trafficking, environmental and labor laws. "They aren't giving this the shot that it deserves."
 
The Sierra Club, a traditional ally of the Obama administration, argues the TPP could increase greenhouse gas emissions and slow the transition to clean energy and has opposed the TPP at virtually every step along the way. For instance, early last year the group rallied more than 40 organizations to denounce the president's request that Congress pass legislation to fast-track consideration of the deal, which was still being negotiated at the time (E&E Daily, Jan. 22, 2015).
 
On the other hand, environmentalists at Defenders of Wildlife took a wait-and-see approach on the deal. But ultimately, they, too, came out against the trade pact after reviewing the language of the TPP. In particular, Defenders President and CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark slammed the "ridiculous" omission of "climate change" from the environmental chapter of the agreement and urged Congress to reject it (E&E Daily, Nov. 6, 2015).
 
Asked about that notably missing phrase, Jewell said, "I didn't write the environmental chapter, so I can't speak to that specifically. ... I'm looking at what's good in the agreement, not what's missing."
 
Pointing back to her experience as CEO of REI, Jewell said she would audit the environmental and labor performance of companies that the outdoor outfitter did business with -- something the trade deal would effectively make mandatory for all U.S. trading partners.
 
"It's very difficult to do when you're a very small part of a factory's business," she said of such audits. "When you've got a trade agreement that requires these things, it takes a huge burden off an individual U.S. company to try and do the right thing."
 
That was one example of "the things that the environmental groups should get better versed on," Jewell said. "Because I think they will find that it's important that we don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. And there's a lot that's good in there that we wouldn't have without this trade agreement."
 
The TPP faces long odds in Congress. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said earlier this year that there's not enough support to approve the TPP. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) doesn't plan to bring the deal up for a vote until after the November elections.
 
Populist-sounding presidential and congressional candidates in both parties have also been critical of the TPP on the campaign trail.
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