[CTC] Environmental groups: Why we'll oppose Trump's NAFTA

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Ben Beachy 
Subject: Environmental groups: Why we'll oppose Trump's NAFTA
Date: November 26, 2018 at 2:27:40 PM EST

On Friday, the Trump administration will sign its NAFTA deal with Canada and Mexico, setting the stage for a high-profile, high-stakes fight over NAFTA in the next Congress. 

Today, leading environmental organizations released a joint statement vowing to actively oppose the pro-polluter deal.  Click here for the statement <https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/NAFTA-environment-statement.pdf>.  You can retweet here <https://twitter.com/SierraClub/status/1067135200684060673>. 

The organizations conclude that the NAFTA deal fails baseline environmental criteria for curbing NAFTA's damage that were repeatedly outlined <https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/uploads-wysiwig/NAFTA%20Environmental%20Letter%20May%202018.pdf> during negotiations.  In today's statement <https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/NAFTA-environment-statement.pdf>, the environmental organizations explain why Trump's NAFTA is a pro-polluter deal: 

"The deal would offer special handouts to history’s largest corporate climate polluters, allow further outsourcing of pollution and jobs, and lock in continued fossil fuel dependency. It not only fails to mention climate change – it would actively contribute to the climate crisis. Despite progress on a few fronts, the deal actually rolls back some environmental standards included in past trade deals, and introduces new rules that could make it more difficult to re-regulate after Trump leaves office. As a whole, this deal fails to curb NAFTA’s threats to wildlife, clean air and water, or the health of our communities."

Today's joint statement assesses the text of the NAFTA deal against the three minimum criteria that leading environmental groups named amid negotiations (see the statement for full analysis and text references <https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/NAFTA-environment-statement.pdf>): 

1. Criterion: Stop the offshoring of pollution and jobs. Outcome: The deal’s weak environment chapter would preserve NAFTA’s pollution offshoring loophole, letting more corporations evade U.S. environmental policies by offshoring jobs, climate emissions, and toxic pollution to Mexico, where many environmental standards are weaker. 

2. Criterion: Support a clean energy economy, not fossil fuel dependency. Outcome: The deal preserves a rule that locks in gas exports and offers a mixed outcome for tar sands oil. 

3. Criterion: Shield environmental policies from industry interference. Outcome: The deal takes a step forward in curtailing corporate rights, but then uniquely grants those rights to history’s biggest climate polluters, while guaranteeing corporations an additional avenue to weaken environmental protections.  

The organizations conclude, "Having now seen the text of the deal and its threats to basic environmental priorities, we will actively oppose this deal."  

Cheers, 
Ben

Ben Beachy
Director, A Living Economy
Sierra Club

202-650-6079
www.sierraclub.org/trade
 <http://www.sierraclub.org/trade>
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