In a speech on
the Senate floor on May 22, Democratic senator Ron Wyden of Oregon ridiculed
those who thought climate change regulation would be part of Obamatrade:
We’ve
heard suggested, for example, that it’s a backdoor route to immigration reform
or action on climate change…. My sense is that the rate these hypotheticals are
going, you’re bound to hear that a future president working on a trade deal
might have second thoughts about the Louisiana purchase.
But in an
interview on NPR’s
Marketplace yesterday (June 3), President Obama
said that enforcing climate change regulations will indeed be part of the
Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Obamatrade pact that he is currently negotiating
with Malaysia and 10 other countries. He said:
If
we want to solve something like climate change, which is one of my highest
priorities, then I’ve got to be able to get into places like Malaysia, and say
to them, this is in your interest. What leverage do I have to get them to stop
deforestation? Well part of the leverage is if I’m in a trade relationship with
them that allows me to raise standards.
In December,
Obama will negotiate a multi-country climate agreement in Paris. We
already know from Obama’s joint
announcement with China that he
will commit the United States to a huge reduction in carbon emissions of
26%-28% from 2005 levels, but he will let China, already a much larger carbon
emitter, continue to expand its carbon emissions until 2030.
Obama would not
need to get Congress to approve the unfair climate change treaty terms that he
negotiates. Instead, he could get the Commission
set up by the Trans-Pacific Partnership
agreement to add those terms to the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
After that, the
Investor-State
Dispute Settlement Provisions,
set up by that agreement, could enforce Obama’s terms through the threat of
multi-billion-dollar fines upon the U.S. government.
In a speech on
the Senate floor on May 22, Democratic senator Ron Wyden of Oregon ridiculed
those who thought climate change regulation would be part of Obamatrade:
We’ve
heard suggested, for example, that it’s a backdoor route to immigration reform
or action on climate change…. My sense is that the rate these hypotheticals are
going, you’re bound to hear that a future president working on a trade deal
might have second thoughts about the Louisiana purchase.
But in an
interview on NPR’s
Marketplace yesterday (June 3), President Obama
said that enforcing climate change regulations will indeed be part of the
Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Obamatrade pact that he is currently negotiating
with Malaysia and 10 other countries. He said:
If
we want to solve something like climate change, which is one of my highest
priorities, then I’ve got to be able to get into places like Malaysia, and say
to them, this is in your interest. What leverage do I have to get them to stop
deforestation? Well part of the leverage is if I’m in a trade relationship with
them that allows me to raise standards.
In December, Obama
will negotiate a multi-country climate agreement in Paris. We already
know from Obama’s joint
announcement with China that he
will commit the United States to a huge reduction in carbon emissions of
26%-28% from 2005 levels, but he will let China, already a much larger carbon
emitter, continue to expand its carbon emissions until 2030.
Obama would not
need to get Congress to approve the unfair climate change treaty terms that he
negotiates. Instead, he could get the Commission
set up by the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement
to add those terms to the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
After that, the
Investor-State
Dispute Settlement Provisions,
set up by that agreement, could enforce Obama’s terms through the threat of
multi-billion-dollar fines upon the U.S. government.
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