Customs bill would limit president’s actions on climate change

PARIS, FRANCE – Last night the conference committee for the Trade Facilitation and Enforcement Act of 2015 (H.R. 644) announced that they had resolved differences between the U.S. House and Senate versions. The Conference Report still contains language that would explicitly prevent the United States Trade Representative from seeking to address climate change in trade agreements. Earlier this year environmental organizations sent up a carta opposing the provisions.

Friends of the Earth – U.S. President Erich Pica issued the following statement:

As the world negotiates an agreement for how to address climate change, the United States Congress is trying to explicitly exclude its consideration in trade agreements. President Obama promised a different type of trade deal. Yet the Trans Pacific Partnership that he negotiated creates a new corporate bill of rights that will benefit polluters and make it more difficult to keep fossil fuels in the ground. President Obama needs to stop allowing trade to trump climate change. We ask President Obama to make it clear that he will veto this legislation if it comes to his desk.

###

Expert contact: Erich Pica, +1 (240) 432-3470, [email protected]
Communications contact: Kate Colwell, (011) 33 6 18 72 99 13, [email protected]