<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=us-ascii"><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><i class="">Link to report at end of article</i></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trans-pacific-partnership-sierra-club_565dcf05e4b08e945fec9f67" class="">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trans-pacific-partnership-sierra-club_565dcf05e4b08e945fec9f67</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><h1 class="entry-component__headline" itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 32px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Georgia, Century, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 36px; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);">Environmental Group Assails 'Polluter-Friendly' Obama Trade Deal</h1><h2 class="entry-component__excerpt" style="margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Georgia, Century, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 20px; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);">"The TPP poses a panoply of threats to our climate and environment."</h2><div class="entry-component__author" itemscope="" itemprop="author creator" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"><div data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"headline"}}" class="component author-component" style="margin: 0px; padding: 7px 0px; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><div class="author-component__byline" data-beacon="{"p":{"lnid":"author_profile"}}" itemid="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zach-carter" style="margin: 0px; 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padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; max-width: 100%; display: inline-block;"></div></div><div class="author-component__info" style="margin: 7px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; max-width: 80%;"><a class="author-component__name" data-beacon="{"p":{"lnid":"author_profile"}}" rel="author" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zach-carter" style="margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; line-height: 1; color: rgb(17, 17, 17); text-decoration: none;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">Zach Carter</span></a><span class="author-component__teaser" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">Senior Political Economy Reporter, The Huffington Post</span></div></div></div></div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><br class="">
<br class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; font-family: Georgia, Century, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;" class=""><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">WASHINGTON -- The Sierra Club on Wednesday released <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/uploads-wysiwig/dirty-deal.pdf" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(44, 145, 120); text-decoration: none;" class="">a report</a> on the final text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, concluding that the landmark trade deal would be a significant setback in efforts to combat climate change and protect the environment.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; font-family: Georgia, Century, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;" class=""><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">"In its more than 6,000 pages of binding rules, the deal fails to even mention the words 'climate change,'" the report reads.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; font-family: Georgia, Century, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;" class=""><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">The Obama administration has led TPP talks for years with a group of nations that eventually expanded to 11 trading partners. The final text was released to the public this fall, after being treated as classified information.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; font-family: Georgia, Century, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;" class=""><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">Supporters of the pact say it will expand U.S. exports and check China's growing global economic influence, pointing to enforceable labor and environmental standards included in the deal.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; font-family: Georgia, Century, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;" class=""><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">But the U.S., including the Obama administration, has never effectively enforced labor or environmental standards in trade pacts, and the Sierra Club report concludes that the broader effects of the deal will overwhelm the narrow environmental language intended to deter illegal wildlife and timber trading.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; font-family: Georgia, Century, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;" class=""><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">Much of TPP's negative impact on climate change will come from outside the chapter dedicated to the environment. The Sierra Club said the deal will encourage fracking by expanding natural gas exports, eliminate tariffs on coal, shift industrial manufacturing activity to countries with poor pollution controls and empower corporations to challenge environmental regulations before an international tribunal.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; font-family: Georgia, Century, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;" class=""><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">"The TPP poses a panoply of threats to our climate and environment," the report reads, calling TPP a "polluter-friendly model" for international trade.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; font-family: Georgia, Century, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;" class="">The report comes as <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obama-paris-climate_565c65bce4b08e945febae92" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(44, 145, 120); text-decoration: none;" class="">Obama has been pressing for bold, coordinated international action</a> to combat climate change at a major conference of world leaders in Paris, serving as a reminder that many environmental groups believe Obama's trade platform may undercut his other efforts.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; font-family: Georgia, Century, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;" class=""><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">The Sierra Club has been one of the most persistent critics of the trade pact through years of negotiations, along with Doctors Without Borders, Public Citizen and American labor unions. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been among the TPP's supporters, although some corporate interests, including the pharmaceutical industry and Big Tobacco, have been disappointed in the final text. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; font-family: Georgia, Century, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;" class=""><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">Congressional Democrats, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), have generally opposed TPP, as have many tea party Republicans. Obama and GOP leaders have strongly backed the deal.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; font-family: Georgia, Century, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;" class=""><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">During negotiations over the text, the Obama administration frequently vowed to include unprecedented labor and environmental protections in the final deal. But the administration raised hackles among human rights watchdogs when it upgraded Malaysia's </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/malaysia-human-trafficking-tpp_55b66521e4b0224d8832fe28" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(44, 145, 120); text-decoration: none;" class="">human trafficking</a><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">rating in order to include the country in the deal -- despite the discovery of a mass grave for human trafficking victims in Malaysia earlier this year. While most environmental groups had opposed the pact, a few, including Defenders of Wildlife, have supported the deal on the grounds that it would curb illegal trafficking in endangered species. Defenders of Wildlife switched its position after the text was released.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; font-family: Georgia, Century, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;" class=""><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">"It is disappointingly clear that this is not the tougher language we had hoped for," said Defenders of Wildlife President and CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark. "The environment chapter is weak." </span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; font-family: Georgia, Century, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;" class=""><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">TPP's fate lies not with environmental groups, but rather with congressional Republicans, who control both the House and the Senate. Over the summer, Congress granted TPP fast-track status, barring lawmakers from amending or filibustering the final agreement.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; font-family: Georgia, Century, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;" class=""><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">Read the full Sierra Club report <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/uploads-wysiwig/dirty-deal.pdf" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(44, 145, 120); text-decoration: none;" class="">here</a>.</span></p><div class=""><br class=""></div></div><div class=""></div><br class=""><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=us-ascii" class=""><div class=""></div></body></html>