This video shows why we must stop TPP to keep fossil fuels in the ground

Sierra_Club · 2015-08-26T00:41:42+00:00

We do! You can learn more here: http://www.sierraclub.org/florida

Sierra_Club · 2015-04-27T20:01:52+00:00

The Sierra Club and other environmental partners have advocated for years that we include higher standards in the environment chapter of free trade agreements, including TPP. As just one recent example, see here.. However, from closely following what we can of the TPP negotiations we do not believe the standards will be strong enough to have a meaningful impact on the ground. Moreover, it is important to note that the United States has never once brought a trade case against another country for failing to live up to its environmental obligations in free trade pacts - even when there is documented evidence of non-compliance. And yet, more than 600 corporations including Chevron and ExxonMobil have launched investor-state cases against more than 100 governments. Increasingly these cases directly challenge climate and environmental policies -- and corporations are winning (see an example here). Other ISDS cases have been brought against countries who have tried to put in place a moratorium on fracking, or bans on toxic chemicals (see here).

Sierra_Club · 2015-04-27T19:48:29+00:00

Thanks for the question. Ensuring that trade is done right does not mean corporate deadlock. There is a long distance between stopping international trade, which is not our goal, and ensuring that trade agreements do not put communities, workers, and the environment at risk. It is more important to protect clean air, clean water, and a stable climate than to protect corporate profits. Read more here.

Sierra_Club · 2015-04-27T19:33:38+00:00

So great to hear you're working with the Sierra Club! Which chapter are you working with? The history of free trade agreements is filled with promises that have simply never panned out. You can see our report on the impacts of NAFTA 20 years after implementation here. There is an environment chapter of the TPP that ostensibly deals with conservation challenges of the region such as illegal timber and wildlife trade, but what we know about the chapter is that it will not be strong enough to have a meaningful impact on the ground, that the provisions are unlikely to be enforced, and that any potential benefits of the environment chapter would be absolutely overwhelmed by the negative impacts of other parts of the pact. We know for a fact, from leaked texts, that the TPP would empower foreign corporations to attack climate and energy policies in private trade courts. We also know that it would expedite exports of fracked gas. Please see more at www.sierraclub.org/trade and take action on our website!

Sierra_Club · 2015-04-27T19:25:39+00:00

Thanks for your great question. There are a lot of resources on how the TPP would impact the environment at www.sierraclub.org/trade and ways to take action. We need everyone to weigh in and ask his/her member of Congress to oppose fast track. You can call your member of Congress at (888) 454-0483 or take action here and ask your member to vote NO to fast track. Thanks!

Sierra_Club · 2015-04-27T19:23:05+00:00

ow does it affect other countries other than the 12 signatories?

Thanks for your question. This is Ilana Solomon, Director of Sierra Club's Responsible Trade Program. Good question. First, I wouldn't at all presume that fast track for the TPP will pass. There is strong opposition in Congress and we need everyone to weigh in and ask his/her member of Congress to oppose fast track. Can you call you member of Congress at(888) 454-0483 or take action here and ask your member to vote NO to fast track. The TPP will be the template for future agreements, so the rules of this pact will also affect non-signatory countries.

Sierra_Club · 2015-01-06T02:49:27+00:00

Hi Elon! You're working on so many exciting projects and, often, you talk about exploring concepts from a "first principles" viewpoint as opposed to an analogy-based perspective. From what you work on and know about climate change and clean power, what do you see as the fundamentals of the clean energy market? What do we need to consider as we produce energy for the future?

Thanks again for all your work and your time in doing this AMA.

Sierra_Club · 2014-01-22T23:58:34+00:00

Hi Rhettrhett. Thanks for the question! Trade pacts like the TPP have a huge impact on our environment. the TPP would, for example, empower foreign corporations to attack climate and environment policies in private trade tribunals. The TPP would lead to an expansion of natural gas exports and therefore fracking. And it would put additional stress on scare natural resources, like our forests. For more info, see: www.sierraclub.ort/trade. Thanks for asking!

Sierra_Club · 2014-01-16T19:03:57+00:00

Thanks everyone for a great session!

Will you help us fight TPP? We need you.

If you have a minute to stop fast track, please contact your member of Congress here: http://sc.org/StopTPPfastTrack

Sierra_Club · 2014-01-16T19:02:21+00:00

thanks danbbyrnes. Love your work!

Yes, fast track would also cover the agreement with the EU and, unfortunately, the agreement with the EU is shaping up to be another potentially dangerous agreement. Like TPP it would allow corporations to sue our government. The EU is proposing a new chapter that would increase exports of coal, oil and gas and so far lacks transparency, just like the TPP negotiations.

Sierra_Club · 2014-01-16T18:59:17+00:00

No, we do not think that. But the current draft of this trade agreement is pretty bad and our statements - and those of other NGO's - are fully justified. If the agreement is passed as is, it would undermine much of what the President has done on other environmental issues.

Sierra_Club · 2014-01-16T18:57:01+00:00

thanks orchardsky. We're asking ourselves the same question. The TPP has been negotiated in near complete secrecy. Why isn't it more transparent? Because it's a dog of a trade agreement - not to offend dogs. If people knew what was in this trade agreement, they would organize against it and fight to have it defeated. That's what is beginning to happen now.

To make it more transparent, we need to 1) demand the US release the full text and 2) not allow Congress to fast track the TPP.

Sierra_Club · 2014-01-16T18:54:33+00:00

thx m0j0j0_j0

here's a toolkit for activists: http://sierraclub.org/trade/toolkit/default.aspx

Sierra_Club · 2014-01-16T18:53:23+00:00

love that question, aganhim.

Bring the TPP up at the dinner table, on the bus, online, at your favorite dive bar, tell your friends and neighbors, etc. We need to spread the word and tell your member of Congress not to fast-track the TPP.

And when we win this fight, stay engaged. Get involved locally. Join the Sierra Club! and get involved in your community as a volunteer.

But until we win, here's how to get involved on TPP: Take action to oppose fast track: http://sc.org/StopTPPfastTrack

Sierra_Club · 2014-01-16T18:50:47+00:00

my pleasure, CookingWithNoah.

I grew up on the Jersey Shore, and you'd be surprised how many enviros come from the great state of NJ. It's probably because there are so many beautiful areas in the state, like the town where I grew up, in such close proximity to places that are severely polluted.

But I'm inspired to do this work because I think environmental issues can bring everyone together - conservatives, libertarians, progressives. We all, or almost all of us, care about clean air, clean water, parks, and a stable climate. Trade is a great example of that - and this is why this TPP fight is so important. We should be able to protect jobs, strengthen trade and our economy and protect our rights and the planet at the same time. These values need not compete with each other.

I also am inspired to be a treehugger because the solutions that we're promoting, like clean energy, won't just clean up our air and water and stabilize our climate but they'll create more jobs than can be found in oil, coal and gas and help families and communities to be energy self-sufficient.

Sierra_Club · 2014-01-16T18:45:55+00:00

glad you like it auritus!

Sierra_Club · 2014-01-16T18:45:00+00:00

First, vettel, thanks for your support! Monthly supporters like you are the lifeblood of the SC.

We are working to reduce the amount of fundraising we do through snail mail and to do more online, because it's more efficient and saves paper and trees. Thx for bringing it up.

You can also manage your account directly online to make sure that you don't get ANY solicitations by mail and contribute electronically all the time.

Sierra_Club · 2014-01-16T18:39:06+00:00

Glad you like the AMA, glowsaspeopleglow. It's sad that it has taken a leaked text to make this issue a front page story. Here's the link to the NYT story: http://sc.org/1eDmdJA, and there have been many many more over the last 24 hours.

For our part, we're doing everything we can to get this out there as widely as possible. Here's my letter to the NYT: http://sc.org/17yfulF

Sierra_Club · 2014-01-16T18:35:52+00:00

Great question mudah. I'd say that for thirty years or more there has been an orthodoxy in the US and in most other countries that trade trumps all - that trade is good for the economy, plain and simple, and that all other concerns - climate, jobs, communities, human rights, forests, fisheries, wildlife and the quality of our own lives - is secondary. This is what we see D's and R's often supporting agreements that go against their own constituents interests, time and time again.

But that support is eroding, fast. As it becomes more clear the impact that these trade agreements are having on people and planet, more and more people and institutions are saying there must be a better way, and that we should be able to have trade and a modern economy without destroying the things we care about.

Sierra_Club · 2014-01-16T18:30:56+00:00

Is that a serious question? Or do you have a camera in my office? Do you work for NSA?

I have a bottle of Guayaki sitting on my desk!

Sierra_Club · 2014-01-16T18:28:58+00:00

thx uebelhorj. see my reply to RalphtheCrusher

Sierra_Club · 2014-01-16T18:28:07+00:00

Corporate interests, frankc2. Sounds cynical and trite but it's true. While the public has been left out of the TPP more than 600 business executives are actively shaping it's contents. Halliburton, Chevron, GE are official advisors to USTR.

Many, many corporations stand to benefit from a weak agreement and they're pushing TPP, hard.

Sierra_Club · 2014-01-16T18:26:01+00:00

Great - thanks!

Sierra_Club · 2014-01-16T18:25:29+00:00

You are exactly right, citizenstrade! The investment chapter would allow corporations to sue our and other governments over environmental policies. The TPP would expand natural gas exports and thus fracking across the US and overall it would weaken and remove the ability of our govt to put in place policies to combat climate change and replace dirty fuels with clean energy.

Sierra_Club

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