<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><a href="http://democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/blog/climate-change-tpa-21st-century-–-or-19th" class="">http://democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/blog/climate-change-tpa-21st-century-–-or-19th</a><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><h1 id="page-title-no-line" style="margin: 0px; padding: 15px 0px 5px; font-size: 2.667em; background-image: none; color: rgb(132, 7, 28); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.02em;" class="">Climate Change: A TPA for the 21st Century – or the 19th?</h1><div class="date-tag" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="date" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(122, 118, 109); font-size: 1.167em; text-transform: uppercase;">JUN 18, 2015</span> <span class="tag issues left-border" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-size: 1.167em; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Issues: <a href="http://democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/media-center/traderesourcecenter" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);" class="">Trade Resource Center</a>, <a href="http://democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/issue/trans-pacific-partnership" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);" class="">Trans-Pacific Partnership</a></span></div><div class="clear" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; clear: both; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"></div><div class="divide-double-line" style="margin: 10px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; background-image: url(http://democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/profiles/house/themes/committee/images/line-double.gif); height: 5px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-position: 50% 100%; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat;"></div><div id="inner-content" style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><div id="node-3964" class="clearfix node node-story" about="/blog/climate-change-tpa-21st-century-%E2%80%93-or-19th" typeof="sioc:Item foaf:Document" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="field-label-hidden field-name-body field field-type-text-with-summary" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="field-items" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.167em; line-height: 1.5em;" class=""><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">This blog post is part of <a href="http://democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/media-center/traderesourcecenter" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(44, 72, 116);" class="">a series</a> about the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.</em></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.167em; line-height: 1.5em;" class="">This morning, Pope Francis released a much-anticipated encyclical on climate change, elevating the issue to a new level of global importance. Meanwhile, in an effort to gain votes for “fast track” trade legislation, Republican leaders in Congress are seeking to appeal to a rigid ideological agenda and block the President from addressing climate change in our trade agreements with other countries.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.167em; line-height: 1.5em;" class="">Trade and climate change are inextricably linked in today’s global economy.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.167em; line-height: 1.5em;" class="">Last week, the House passed a series of trade bills related to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations. One of the bills – the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act – included language that would “ensure that trade agreements do not require changes to U.S. law or obligate the United States with respect to global warming or climate change.” This language would be added to the “fast-track” bill being considered by the House later this morning, which allows the President to conclude agreements subject only to an up-or-down vote in Congress.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.167em; line-height: 1.5em;" class="">Far from bringing “fast-track” in line with where Americans are, this objective pushes it even further away. According to a recent <a href="http://www.ipsos-na.com/download/pr.aspx?id=14298" class="ext" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(44, 72, 116);">Reuters<span class="ext" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 12px 0px 0px; background-image: url(http://democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/profiles/house/modules/contrib/extlink/extlink_s.png); width: 10px; height: 10px; background-position: 2px 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"></span></a> poll: </p><ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""><li style="margin: 0px 0px 15px 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.167em; line-height: 1.5em; list-style-position: inside;" class="">68% of Americans believe climate change is real </li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 15px 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.167em; line-height: 1.5em; list-style-position: inside;" class="">66% of Americans believe human activities are responsible for most of the increase in carbon dioxide emissions </li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 15px 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.167em; line-height: 1.5em; list-style-position: inside;" class="">56% of Americans believe that climate change poses a moral question because of its disproportionate effect on the poor</li></ul><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.167em; line-height: 1.5em;" class="">Perhaps most critically for our consideration of “fast-track” trade authority, 66% of Americans believe that world leaders are “morally obligated” to reduce carbon emissions.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.167em; line-height: 1.5em;" class="">And addressing climate change is supported by majorities, regardless of party affiliation. According to a <a href="http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/BSGSCpoll.pdf" class="ext" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(44, 72, 116);">separate poll<span class="ext" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 12px 0px 0px; background-image: url(http://democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/profiles/house/modules/contrib/extlink/extlink_s.png); width: 10px; height: 10px; background-position: 2px 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"></span></a> of likely voters, “Majorities across the partisan and demographic spectrums support President Obama taking action [on climate change] alongside the international community.” </p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.167em; line-height: 1.5em;" class="">But beyond the substantively flawed nature of the climate change negotiating objective, the ill-conceived, last-minute nature of its inclusion in “fast-track” exposes other concerns. </p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.167em; line-height: 1.5em;" class="">First, how does this objective, tacked on at the eleventh hour, square with the <u style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">existing</u> objective in the Senate-passed “fast-track” bill? That objective requires our negotiators to “ensure that trade and environmental policies are mutually supportive and to seek to protect and preserve the environment and enhance the international means of doing so.” Is it possible to address environmental issues if the negotiators are precluded from addressing climate change? </p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.167em; line-height: 1.5em;" class="">The U.S.-Peru free trade agreement contained a landmark “<a href="https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/agreements/fta/peru/asset_upload_file953_9541.pdf" class="ext" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(44, 72, 116);">Annex on Forest Governance<span class="ext" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 12px 0px 0px; background-image: url(http://democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/profiles/house/modules/contrib/extlink/extlink_s.png); width: 10px; height: 10px; background-position: 2px 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"></span></a>,” precisely because deforestation of the Amazon is exacerbating climate change. It includes obligations that bind not only Peru, but the United States as well. Would that be inconsistent with this new “climate change” negotiating objective?</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.167em; line-height: 1.5em;" class="">Second, if we know our negotiating partners are interested in addressing climate change, why would we handcuff our own negotiators from being able to negotiate these provisions and obtain additional concessions as well? Elevating environmental protections around the world is not just good for the planet, it is also good for American businesses that strive to meet higher environmental standards than many of their competitors around the world.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.167em; line-height: 1.5em;" class="">A leaked draft of the Pope’s encyclical makes clear that he is addressing not just his own bishops, but, literally, everyone on earth – across all faiths. He implores us, as custodians of the planet, to address the man-made contributions to global warming.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.167em; line-height: 1.5em;" class="">On this critical issue, as well as others, this “fast-track" bill is on the wrong track. </p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.167em; line-height: 1.5em;" class="">---</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.167em; line-height: 1.5em;" class="">A <a href="http://democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/blog/tpp-focus-environment-need-strong-commitments" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(44, 72, 116);" class="">previous blog</a> highlighted the critical nature of the environment chapter of TPP. <a href="http://democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/sites/democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/files/documents/A%20Path%20Forward%20to%20an%20Effective%20TPP%20Agreement%201.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(44, 72, 116);" class="">The Path Forward</a> laid out the critical elements of the Environment Chapter that must be included in any TPP agreement. One of the elements is climate change.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.167em; line-height: 1.5em;" class="">###</p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>