The U.S.-Mexico - Canada Agreement ( USMCA ) , the Trump administration ’s trade deal , slip by 89 - 10 in the Republican - control Senate on Thursday with one high - visibility defection : Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer .
Schumer , who as late as last calendar month said he was still hold off tosee the last text edition of the bill(andtold Politicoon Wednesday afternoon he was still on the fencing ) praised the passel ’s “ very just labour commissariat . ” But he issued a financial statement saying that the deal give out to kick upstairs “ planetary mood security by adumbrate binding and enforceable climate commitments from all three countries , ” and instead included handout to the gun and oil manufacture like pitch guts tariff rollbacks and incentives for manufacturer to move water- and air - foul jobs to a looser regulatory environs in Mexico .
That last - minute no may have been motivated in part by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanderscoming out stronglyagainst the trade bargain in popular primary debates this week . Sanders correctly cast trade agreement as a major clime exit . For example , the North American Free Trade Agreement ( NAFTA ) and other trade deal enabledmass outsourcing of pollutionto piteous rural area ( but greenhouse gases do n’t abide by territorial boundaries ) . Provisions in the bill could also allow U.S. companies to undermine environmental practice of law by claiming they areburdensome to trade . And it does n’t cite the term “ climate change ” once .
Photo: Julio Cortez (AP)
Despite the improvements Democrats secured to well protect doer :
I am voting against USMCA .
Because it does n’t address climate alteration , the greatest threat face our planet.pic.twitter.com/WxyRpcH2pZ
— Chuck Schumer ( @SenSchumer)January 16 , 2020
The U.S. Trade Representative ’s office touted someincreased environmental protectionsin the renegotiated hatful , citing increased obligations to “ combat trafficking in wildlife , woodland , and fish , ” protect marine specie , and articles to slim air and ocean pollution . But environmental grouping had urge the Senate not to exit the bill . Earthjustice , Food and Water Action , Friends of the Earth , Greenpeace , the League of Conservation Voters , the Natural Resources Defense Council , Oil Change International , the Sierra Club , and the Sunrise Movement allsigned a letter in December 2019saying that the USCMA “ ignores nearly all of thefundamental environmental fixesconsistently outline by theenvironmental community .
“ The deal would contribute to the clime crisis by assist corporate pollutersdodge our climate policy via outsourcing , impart the controversial Investor - State Dispute Settlement system intact for the most polluting sectors in Mexico , and deepening North America ’s trust on gob sands crude and fracked gas , ” the mathematical group wrote . “ It would perpetuate NAFTA ’s ugly track record of helping corporationsdump their toxic befoulment in residential area in Mexicoand evade our hard - fought protective covering for clean breeze and water . ”
In ananalysis on their website , the Sierra Club argued that while the pile refer air befoulment , it omitted “ essential limits on melodic line , water , or land pollution . ” Key multilateral environmental agreements and enforcement tools failed to improve on ineffectual provisions in anterior agreement , the Sierra Club add . The analysis added that the trade preserved methods for the U.S. to “ sue Mexico over climate and environmental protections in individual tribunals ” and noted that the provisions enable corporations to dispute proposed convention or demand the repeal of existing ones could hobble the U.S. regime ’s power to undo Trump’smass rollbacksof environmental lawin the hereafter .
Most Democrats in the Senate or running for president in 2020 backed the treaty , thoughSanders — one of the front - contrabandist in the primaries — came out against itlast month . electric sander suppose it was a “ pocket-sized improvement over what we have right now ” but “ is not going to check outsourcing . It is not going to stop corporations from moving to Mexico . ”
Someone is unquestionably apprehensive about a primary challenge in 2022.https://t.co/plqRb37lEp
— Waleed Shahid 🪬 ( @_waleedshahid)January 16 , 2020
“ 2d of all , every major environmental governing body has said no to this novel trade agreement because it does not even have the phrase ‘ climate change ’ in it , ” smoother sound out at a presidential debate this hebdomad . “ And give the fact that climate change is right now the greatest scourge facing this planet , I will not vote for a trade accord that does not contain very , very strong rule to significantly low fossil fuel emissions in the world . ”
Beyond Sanders , billionaire Tom Steyer , who is campaigning mostly on environmental issue , told the public debate audiencethat “ if climate is your identification number one priority , you ca n’t bless a deal , even if it ’s marginally better for work people until clime is also taken into consideration … We can not put clime on the backseat all the clock time and say we ’re go to sign this one more deal , we ’re going to do one more thing without put mood first . That ’s why it ’s my number one precedency . ”
Bernie SandersChuck SchumerClimate changePoliticsPollutiontech policy
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