<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=""><br class=""><div class=""><p class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);" class=""><a href="http://www.nrdc.org/media/2015/151105.asp" target="_blank" class="">http://www.nrdc.org/media/2015/151105.asp</a><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;" class="">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<br class="">Contact: Jake Thompson, <a href="mailto:jthompson@nrdc.org" target="_blank" class="">jthompson@nrdc.org</a>, <a href="tel:202-289-2387" value="+12022892387" target="_blank" class="">202-289-2387</a>; or Elizabeth Heyd, <a href="mailto:eheyd@nrdc.org" target="_blank" class="">eheyd@nrdc.org</a>, <a href="tel:202-289-2424" value="+12022892424" target="_blank" class="">202-289-2424</a></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class=""><strong class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">NRDC: Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Weakens Protections, Should be Rejected</span></strong><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;" class="">WASHINGTON (November 5, 2015) – The long-awaited text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement was released today, revealing some fundamental problems in the proposed international trade agreement.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;" class="">The following is a statement from Jake Schmidt, International Program director at the Natural Resources Defense Council:</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;" class="">“This trade agreement would allow foreign corporations to challenge our health, safety and environmental protections in a foreign tribunal outside our legal system, and it would weaken those bedrock safeguards in the United States. While there are some positive conservation measures, the agreement’s substantial shortcomings should lead Congress to reject it.”</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p align="center" style="text-align: center;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;" class="">###</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;" class="">The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 2 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Livingston, Montana, and Beijing. Visit us at <a href="http://www.nrdc.org/" target="_blank" class="">http://www.nrdc.org</a> and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.</span></p></div></body></html>