International trade should not mean international pollution

J.D. LLOYD Angeles Chapter members Joan and Don Holtz added to the Sierra Club presence at WTO protests in Seattle. The Sierra Club repeated its message of “fair trade” at the April WTO meeting in Quebec.

By Gordon LaBedz
Chapter Chair
May 2001

Free trade has always been an apple-pie-and-motherhood issue. Tariffs are taxes on imported goods that favor politically connected industries against foreign competition. Most people agree that tariffs give unfair advantages to certain companies. Tariffs also hurt foreign companies and can spark retaliatory tariffs that hurt American industries. Trade wars rarely benefit consumers.

Free trade is about getting rid of unfair tariffs. Free trade is not about getting rid of health and safety laws. Free trade is not about getting rid of labor laws. Free trade is not about getting rid of environmental laws. The global corporations have, once again, banded together—this time in Quebec—to foist upon us the notion that free trade requires all governments to abolish their labor, health and safety and environmental laws.

The environmental community has come together to oppose this phony “free trade.” We are calling for “Fair Trade.” We say that environmental protections should not be given up so that some corporations can increase profits. In many countries, private entities and individuals are not allowed to dump their waste into the public domain (air, water, land). Just because some governments permit such pollution does not mean it is mandatory that all governments ought to allow it. There is no “right” to pollute.

For example, Governor Gray Davis outlawed MBTE in California. The chemical in gasoline was found in our drinking water. This was first noted in Santa Monica when the water started tasting “chemically.” A Canadian chemical company that makes methanol (the M in MBTE) sued the United States under NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) rules, demanding almost $1 billion in damages because they can’t export MBTE to Californians. This is the type of stupidity that these supra-governmental agreements engender.

Former president Bill Clinton tried to ram through Congress a new presidential empowerment program allowing him to “fast track” trade agreements without congressional scrutiny. Congress shot him down twice. Now Bush is trying it again. The Sierra Club is waging an all-out campaign against this “fast track” power. Our hard-won environmental protections will not be given up because some corporate giant wants to make bigger profits. The power to “fast track” trade agreements may mean that Bush will fast-track our environmental laws into the landfill.