Oct 08 2015
Environmental Activists Denounce TPP Deal
GUEST: Bill Waren, trade policy analyst for Friends of the Earth.
The Obama Administration is enjoying a major victory with the announcement of a new trade deal with 12 nations, known as the TransPacific Partnership (TPP). Aimed at bolstering US economic dominance in the face of China’s spectacular growth, the TPP faced huge opposition from progressive groups who have cast the deal as “NAFTA on steroids.” Recently Congress voted to give the President so-called Fast Track authority over the deal, meaning that they would not be able to amend it – simply cast an up or down vote. A vote is scheduled for early next year, as Mr. Obama finishes up his last year in office.
The TPP sets corporate-friendly rules on such aspects of the economy as pharmaceuticals, energy, agriculture, and the internet. One group of activists was apparently happy with the shape of the newly-reached deal: wildlife conservationists praised a deal that many had a hand in crafting. David McCauley of the World Wildlife Federation told the New York Times, “The provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership go beyond what we have seen in other trade agreements.”
But most environmental groups are extremely unhappy with the TPP. One of them is Friends of the Earth, which has been working hard to defeat the trade bill.
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