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Trade

TTIP: Low Economic Benefits, Real Climate Risks

January 8, 2016 Yves Smith, www.nakedcapitalism.com , , ,
By Yves Smith for Naked Capitalism - Climate change governance should inform global governance more broadly, including international trade and investment policy. One of the most important trade and investment agreements is the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)—currently under negotiation between the European Union and United States—given the role the agreement will likely play in establishing rules for the global economy in the 21st century.

Congress Asked To Block Obama’s Pacific Rim Trade Pact

January 8, 2016 David Nakamura, www.washingtonpost.com , ,
By David Nakamura for The Washington Post. A coalition of more than 1,500 interest groups is sending a letter to Congress on Thursday demanding that lawmakers block the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the 12-nation Pacific Rim trade pact championed by the Obama administration. "The questions policymakers should be asking about these rules is whether, on the whole, they would create American jobs, raise our wages, enhance environmental sustainability, improve public health and advance human rights and democracy," the coalition writes in the four-page letter. "After careful consideration, we believe you will agree, the answer to these questions is no." Labor unions, environmental groups, consumer advocates and faith groups are among the 1,525 organizations that signed onto the document, which was organized by the Citizens Trade Campaign. Hundreds of local labor union affiliates have signed on.

US Government Facilitated LNG Business Deals

January 4, 2016 Steve Horn, www.desmogblog.com ,
By Steve Horn for Desmog - Emails and documents obtained by DeSmog reveal that the U.S. International Trade Administration has actively promoted and facilitated business deals for the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry and export terminal owners, even before some of the terminals have the federal regulatory agency permits needed to open for business. This release of the documents coincides with the imminent opening of the first ever LNG export terminal in the U.S. hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) era, owned by Cheniere. The documents came via an open records request filed by DeSmog with the Port of Lake Charles.

Tell The USTR What You Think About The TPP

December 29, 2015 Staff, www.flushthetpp.org , , ,
By Flush the TPP. According to the Federal Register, the Office of the US Trade Representative announced on Dec. 28 that it “is seeking public comments on the impact of the TPP Agreement on U.S. employment, including labor markets.” The open comment period extends until January 13, 2016. It is critical that as many people as possible write to them about this. (In 2014, millions of public comments pouring into the FCC saved the Internet) We make it easy with step-by-step instructions, information about the TPP's impact on labor with links to places where you can read more and a sample comment that you can copy and paste. This only takes a few minutes to do. Please share this with others. Let's flood the USTR with comments opposing the TPP!

WTO: Missing In Action

December 27, 2015 Sophia Murphy, www.iatp.org , , ,
By Sophia Murphy for Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. The World Trade Organization’s 10th Ministerial Conference, held in Nairobi, Kenya from 15-18 December came right on the heels of the final outcome of the 21st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The contrasts were striking, and not just because of the shift from Europe to Africa, from northern winter to equatorial rains and from environment to trade. There was also the level of interest: everyone who could not be in Paris was watching what went on there from afar while few came to sit in the make-shift tents put up by the Kenyan Government as an NGO centre. The protest marches, organized by farmers’ organizations, gathered dozens of people rather than the several thousands who had come to ministerials past.

A Holiday Recipe for Economic Equality

December 25, 2015 Leo Gerard, inthesetimes.com , , ,
By Leo Gerard for In These Times. The spirit of the season is generosity. Eight toys for Hanukkah. A partridge in a pear tree and 11 other quirky presents. Black Friday. Cyber Monday. Giving Tuesday. It’s the thought that counts. And the thought is good-hearted. That’s why the season works so well. To keep it all rolling happily along, however, workers need to earn enough money so that they can afford gifts and charitable donations. With wages stagnant for decades, that’s increasingly difficult. In keeping with the figgy-pudding and potato latke traditions of the holidays, here’s a recipe for delivering joy to workers so that they can spread holiday merriment.

2015: A Year In Review On Trade And The Environment

December 21, 2015 Ilana Solomon, www.huffingtonpost.com , , ,
By Ilana Solomon of the Sierra Club. In 2015, new trade and investment cases, leaks and texts all demonstrated how trade rules present a significant threat to our environment and climate. But 2015 was also a year of unprecedented grassroots mobilization on trade, indicating that -- if we continue to build on this momentum -- we can close the curtains of the free trade era. Let's review 2015's trade-and-environment highlight reel -- which demonstrates why 2016 must be the year to stop harmful trade pacts and build a new model of trade that supports communities, our environment and climate. 2015 was also a year of incredible mobilization against harmful trade pacts. If we continue this work and build our movement we will build a new model of trade that puts the interests of communities and the environment before the interests of multinational corporations. Our short-term work is to stop harmful trade agreements. Our long-term work is to continue to build our movement so strong and fierce that it becomes unthinkable for governments to allow trade rules to undermine environmental and public interest policies because the backlash would be too severe.

Newsletter: An Opening For People Power

December 20, 2015 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.popularresistance.org , , , , , , ,
By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers for Popular Resistance. The reality that corporatism cannot deal with the urgent problems faced in the US and around the world is becoming more obvious. People power is growing as more see that the current system is unable to operate in a functional way. People power is having an impact, forcing the country to listen. How do we create the transformation we need? The UN climate talks, COP21, are now recognized widely as a failure, at best a framework to be filled at a later date. Why were countries unable to confront climate change? The dominant economic and political power in the world is the United States. We are ruled by corporate power which is corrupted by Big Energy and as a result the US ensured a bad agreement.

ExxonMobil, Peabody Coal Lobby To Remove Climate Language

December 20, 2015 Steve Horn, www.desmogblog.com , , ,
By Steve Horn for Desmog Blog. Washington, DC - The day before global leaders and diplomats passed a climate change deal in Paris at the United Nations climate summit, the U.S. House of Representatives — in a 256-158 vote — authorized the final text of a bill that has a provision preventing climate change to be accounted for in all U.S. trade deals going forward. That bill, the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (H.R.644), now may proceed for full-floor votes in both the House and the U.S. Senate after its conference report was agreed upon. A DeSmog review of lobbying records shows the bill has received heavy fossil fuel industry support.

Nationwide Mobilization To Stop The TPP

December 18, 2015 Staff, www.flushthetpp.org , , , ,
By Flush the TPP. Flush the TPP - On February 4, 2016, President Obama will be permitted by Fast Track law to sign the TransPacific Partnership (TPP). During the recent APEC meeting in Manila, Philippines, leaders of TPP countries discussed holding a signing ceremony that day in New Zealand. Following the signing, Congress will still have to pass implementing legislation before the TPP can be put into place. The Obama administration is currently writing that legislation and is expected to send it to Congress as soon as it anticipates having enough votes to pass it. That can happen any time after Obama signs the TPP. The TPP implementing legislation could be sent to Congress as early as February 5 and as late as after the elections in the fall. It all depends on when Obama and leadership believe they have the votes. Our job is to make sure that never happens.

Australia Wins Arbitration Over Cigarette Packaging

December 18, 2015 Jarrod Hepburn and Luke Eric Peterson, www.iareporter.com , , ,
By Jarrod Hepburn and Luke Eric Peterson for Investment Arbitration Reporter. The Hague, Netherlands - A tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration has issued a decision dismissing a high-profile case between cigarette multinational Philip Morris and the Commonwealth of Australia. The PCA website indicates that a Decision on Jurisdiction and Admissibility was issued on December 17, 2015. A source involved in the case has confirmed to IAReporter that the tribunal has dismissed the investor’s claims of breach of the Australia-Hong Kong bilateral investment treaty. Subsequent to this, Philip Morris issued a press release confirming the result, and lamenting that the case was decided on the basis of “… a procedural issue that Australia chose to advocate instead of confronting head on the merits of whether plain packaging is legal or even works”.

Newsletter: Opportunity For Climate Justice, If We Mobilize

December 13, 2015 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.popularesistance.org , , , , , , ,
By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers for Popular Resistance. The COP21 resulted in an agreement that was 25 years in the making, beginning with the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. Until now the world had been unable to reach an agreement on combating climate change. Because the document required unanimous consensus it is the lowest common denominator. Countries that depend on oil as the basis of their economy, like Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, as well as those with strong climate denialism, like Australia and the United States, which combines denialism with corporate domination of government, all had to agree. The lowest common denominator is not good enough.

Join The Buycott For Trade Justice

December 8, 2015 Staff, www.flushthetpp.org , , , , ,
By Flush the TPP. If they become law, international treaties like the TransPacific Partnership (TPP), TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trade-in-Services Agreement (TISA) will fundamentally alter the global economy and global governance in a way that further empowers transnational corporations while decreasing the power of nation-states and people. These treaties will create a permanent path that makes corporate profit more important than the needs of people and protection of the planet. They will drive a global race to the bottom in wages and worker rights, food safety, internet freedom, access to health care, protection of the environment and more. It is up to us to organize and build power to stop the race to the bottom in its tracks! The Buycott is a tactic that people all over the world can use. It is not only a form of resistance, of non-cooperation, but it is also a way to create the necessary alternative – trade that lifts communities up and protects the planet as a first priority.

Next Phase Of TPP Resistance

November 28, 2015 Staff, www.popularresistance.org , ,
By Staff for Popular Resistance. The mobilization to stop the TransPacific Partnership (TPP) in DC from November 14 to 18 was a great success! Hundreds attended the arts build and training camp and many times more took to the streets. Three energetic and colorful marches and rallies over two days shut down the US Trade Representative's Office, stopped at the White House, took over the front door of the US Chamber of Commerce, swarmed the lobby of Morgan Stanley, shut down streets and the entrance to Monsanto and performed actions of solidarity in front of embassies of TPP countries. On the third day, a group visited Congressional leaders to deliver TPP toilet paper rolls.

Newsletter: Movement Mobilizes To Stop The TPP

November 22, 2015 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.popularresistance.org , , , , , , , , , , ,
By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers for Popular Resistance. Now that the TPP is public, opposition is rising as we see the TPPis actually worse than expected. In an interview with Jaisal Noor of The Real News, Margaret Flowers explains how the TPP was a victory for the corporations on issue after issue, including reducing wages and worker rights, undermining environmental protection, making healthcare more expensive, undermining Internet freedom and more. Kevin Zeese in a conversation with Chris Hedges talks about how the TPP is the greatest corporate power grab in US history and how people have to rise up to stop the race to the bottom that will affect every aspect of our lives. A few days after the text was released, we highlighted ten shocking realities of the TPP. The final text showed that critics were right about what it would contain. In fact, the TPP is a step backward on many important issues.
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