<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=""><p class="MsoNormal"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" class="">Congrats to the Sierra Club and others on the fantastic new 450+ group letter opposing the TPP on environmental grounds (<a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/uploads-wysiwig/trade-keep-in-ground-letter.pdf" target="_blank" class="">which you can download here</a>), which was covered by <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trade-climatechange-idUSKCN0YS144" class="">Reuters in an article</a> below. </font>Please help us spread the word! Template tweets below, or you can retweet <a href="https://twitter.com/ilana_solomon1/status/739792037139099648" class="">here</a>.</p><ul style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><li style="margin-left: 15px;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 20.24px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;" class="">In largest show of enviro opposition to #TPP over 450 orgs urge Congress to oppose #TPP & #KeepItInTheGround </span><a href="http://reut.rs/1VHqHHZ" target="_blank" style="font-size: 12.8px;" class="">http://reut.rs/1VHqHHZ</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 20.24px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;" class=""> #NoTPP</span></li><li style="margin-left: 15px;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 20.24px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;" class="">BREAKING: 450+ groups call on Congress to oppose #TPP b/c of threats to keeping fossil fuels in the ground. </span><a href="http://reut.rs/1VHqHHZ" target="_blank" style="font-size: 12.8px;" class="">http://reut.rs/1VHqHHZ</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 20.24px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 20.24px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;" class="">#NoTPP</span></li><li style="margin-left: 15px;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 20.24px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;" class=""><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 20.24px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;" class="">450+ groups just signed on to a letter calling on members of Congress to reject #TPP & #KeepItInTheGround </span><a href="http://reut.rs/1VHqHHZ" target="_blank" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; line-height: normal; white-space: normal;" class="">http://reut.rs/1VHqHHZ</a><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 20.24px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;" class=""> #NoTPP </span><br class=""></span></li><li style="margin-left: 15px;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 20.24px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;" class="">450+ orgs warn of threats from #TTIP to our air, water, and climate & call on Congress to </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 20.24px; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">#KeepItInTheGround </span><a href="http://reut.rs/1VHqHHZ" target="_blank" style="font-size: 12.8px;" class="">http://reut.rs/1VHqHHZ</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 20.24px; white-space: pre-wrap; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;" class=""> </span></li></ul><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><h1 class="" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-size: 4em; font-family: knowledgemedium, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 42px; font-weight: normal; padding: 6px 0px;">Groups urge U.S. Congress to reject TPP over environmental concerns</h1><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><span class="" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: aria, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.2em; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">WASHINGTON</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;" class=""> </span><span class="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.2em; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">| </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;" class=""></span><span class="" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.2em; text-transform: uppercase; padding-top: 0px !important;">BY <a href="http://www.reuters.com/journalists/valerie-volcovici" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 110, 151);" class="">VALERIE VOLCOVICI</a></span><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><span class="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-size: 1.6em; line-height: 1.6em; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" class="">More than 450 groups on Monday called on Congress to reject the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) if it comes up for a vote this fall, saying the trade deal would allow fossil fuel companies to contest U.S. environmental rules in extrajudicial tribunals.</p></span><span id="midArticle_1" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;" class=""></span><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-size: 1.6em; line-height: 1.6em; padding: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">The groups, most of them environmental organizations, warned that companies could challenge U.S. environmental standards in tribunals outside the domestic legal system under provisions of the 12-nation TPP and the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with Europe.</p><span id="midArticle_2" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;" class=""></span><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-size: 1.6em; line-height: 1.6em; padding: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">Congress is expected to vote on the TPP after the Nov. 8 election during a lame-duck session. President Barack Obama wants the agreement ratified before he leaves office on Jan. 20, but opposition to the deal has grown during this year's presidential campaign.</p><span id="midArticle_3" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;" class=""></span><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-size: 1.6em; line-height: 1.6em; padding: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">"We strongly urge you to eliminate this threat to U.S. climate progress by committing to vote no on the TPP and asking the U.S. Trade Representative to remove from TTIP any provision that empowers corporations to challenge government policies in extrajudicial tribunals," the groups wrote in the letter to every member of Congress.</p><span id="midArticle_4" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;" class=""></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;" class=""></span><span class="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"></span><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-size: 1.6em; line-height: 1.6em; padding: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">Obama's political ally and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has said she wants to renegotiate the TPP to include stronger rules on currency manipulation.</p><span id="midArticle_5" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;" class=""></span><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-size: 1.6em; line-height: 1.6em; padding: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">Voter anxiety over the impact of trade deals on jobs and the environment has helped power the campaigns of Donald Trump, the likely Republican nominee, and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, who is running against Clinton for the Democratic nomination.</p><span id="midArticle_6" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;" class=""></span><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-size: 1.6em; line-height: 1.6em; padding: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">The letter says approving the deals would enable fossil fuel companies to use "investor-state dispute settlements" to demand compensation for environmental rules through cases decided by lawyers outside the U.S. judicial system.</p><span id="midArticle_7" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;" class=""></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;" class=""></span><span class="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"></span><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-size: 1.6em; line-height: 1.6em; padding: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">The groups noted that in January, Canadian energy company TransCanada asked for a private tribunal through the North American Free Trade Agreement to seek compensation exceeding $15 billion, after Obama last year rejected a permit for its Keystone pipeline, citing global warming concerns.</p><span id="midArticle_8" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;" class=""></span><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-size: 1.6em; line-height: 1.6em; padding: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">"The TPP and TTIP would more than double the number of fossil fuel corporations that could follow TransCanada’s example and challenge U.S. policies in private tribunals," the letter said.</p><span id="midArticle_9" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;" class=""></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;" class=""></span><span class="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"></span><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-size: 1.6em; line-height: 1.6em; padding: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">Ilana Solomon, director of the Sierra Club's trade program, said skepticism around trade deals in the U.S. elections creates an opportunity for Congress to reject the TPP.</p><span id="midArticle_10" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;" class=""></span><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-size: 1.6em; line-height: 1.6em; padding: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">"There is so much momentum now to end the TPP and other trade agreements," she told Reuters. "This is an area where there is bipartisan agreement... that these deals harm workers, communities and our environment."</p><span id="midArticle_11" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;" class=""></span><div style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-size: 1.6em; line-height: 1.6em; padding: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><span id="midArticle_12" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;" class=""></span><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-size: 1.6em; line-height: 1.6em; padding: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by David Gregorio)</p></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div></div></body></html>