Not only will Obama's TPP make you and your family poorer, it will make you more unsafe

[brentspeak]

That is because, at corporate lobbyists' request, it will weaken international environmental protections:

http://billmoyers.com/2014/01/16/tpp-wikileaked-us-watering-down-enviro-protections-in-secret-trade-deal/

TPP Wikileaked: US Watering Down Enviro Protections in Secret Trade Deal

January 16, 2014
by John Light

Another chapter in the tale of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — a secret international trade deal being pushed by the Obama administration and described by critics as “NAFTA on steroids” — has once again been Wikileaked. This one deals with the environment, and it shows that, by and large, the US is caving on environmental standards it had previously set for international trade agreements.

Environmental groups say the protections that are included in the document are weak — and, furthermore, that the pact contains no enforcement mechanisms. This breaks with recent precedent — in 2007, Bush reached an agreement with congressional Democrats that required environmental provisions in trade agreements to be legally binding.

“The lack of fully-enforceable environmental safeguards means negotiators are allowing a unique opportunity to protect wildlife and support legal sustainable trade of renewable resources to slip through their fingers,” said Carter Roberts, president and CEO of the World Wildlife Fund. “These nations account for more than a quarter of global trade in fish and wood products and they have a responsibility to address trade’s impact on wildlife crime, illegal logging and overfishing.”

...

The administration has billed the environmental chapter of TPP as a counter to the agreement’s extensive corporate privileges, but after reading the newly leaked document, environmental groups said it would be ineffectual. “If the environment chapter is finalized as written in this leaked document, President Obama’s environmental trade record would be worse than George W. Bush’s,” said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. “This draft chapter falls flat on every single one of our issues — oceans, fish, wildlife and forest protections — and in fact, rolls back the progress made in past trade pacts.”

[pa28]

1. TPP gives corporate interests tremendous leverage to undo existing regulation and law.

It seems to me that K street has found a back door to accomplish all of their goals in one shot through "trade" agreements like TPP.

[Hoyt]

2. Does this agreement weaken any of our internal laws? If so, I'm against it.

Now, if we are trying to impose our beliefs on another country, I'd have to look at the other country's environmental laws. For the most part, I'm not sure we should be imposing our laws/beliefs on other countries, at least ones that aren't into slave labor, uncontrolled environmental emissions, etc. Incentives perhaps, but not outright forcing our laws/beliefs on other countries. Heck, some other countries are far superior to us.

[cali]

3. yes, it almost certainly does. it's really NOT a free trade agreement at all

it's an unfetter-corporations-from-laws-and-regulations agreement- as far as we can tell from the leaked chapters and from who and how its been crafted.

There's vanishingly little about tariffs and other matters of trade.

[Hoyt]

8. Do you have an example how it changes our laws? Or, is that secret too?

I'm seriously trying to find some examples of why this is an attempt by our overlords to screw us. But so far, everyone only says it does, but with no examples.

[cali]

9. I've given dozens of examples here and I'm tired of doing other people's research

for them. type in Cali tpp in search right here. I have dozens- if not hundreds- of posts with links to such sites as EFF. do a search on google.

[delrem]

4. Don't worry, it'll be secret but it'll be a bipartisan deal so there's nothing to worry about.

Esp. if it goes "fast track".

[Egalitarian Thug]

5. There is not one single revealed aspect of this abomination that indicates that this is

anything but the elimination of the last vestiges of an illusion of consent of the governed.

[Fumesucker]

6. They're keeping the good parts hidden

Oh come on, you know someone's going to say it seriously shortly.

[Egalitarian Thug]

7. Hang on a mo', I'm going to check over in the Economics forum.

They frequently throw these pieces of shit against that wall there to pre-check the smell/laughter test.

[polichick]

10. Why is everyone so hard on Pres. Obama? Couldn't you have left his name...

off the op title? Why insult the president?

[90-percent]

11. Corporations are super people

600 corporations are crafting this.

Their creation is secret. It has been classified as such by our government.

Select Congressmen may look at it, but cannot take notes or make copies. Because it's classified, those that have seen it can be punished by law if they share what they read to ANYBODY!

America is now ruled by shameless greedy pigs and those psycho's sure as hell want more for them and less for you.

We are all corporate serfs now. It's like they are trying to insult what's left of our former democracy as blatantly as possible! You little people will accept the scraps we allow you and like it! We know better than you because we're wealthy!!!

-90% Jimmy

[pampango]

12. "The report indicates that the United States has been pushing for tough environmental provisions,

particularly legally binding language that would provide for sanctions against participating countries for environmental violations. The United States is also insisting that the nations follow existing global environmental treaties.

But many of those proposals are opposed by most or all of the other Pacific Rim nations working on the deal, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Peru. Developing Asian countries, in particular, have long resisted outside efforts to enforce strong environmental controls, arguing that they could hurt their growing economies.

The report appears to indicate that the United States is losing many of those fights, and bluntly notes the rifts: “While the chair sought to accommodate all the concerns and red lines that were identified by parties regarding the issues in the text, many of the red lines for some parties were in direct opposition to the red lines expressed by other parties.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/us/politics/administration-is-seen-as-retreating-on-environment-in-talks-on-pacific-trade.html

[Wilms]

13. ^

[brentspeak]

14. self-kick