We've known for decades that free trade agreements are bad news for American workers. But, now that the full text of the Trans Pacific Partnership has been released, we know that this massive trade deal is a major threat to our environment as well.
This week, the full text of the TPP - aka SHAFTA - was finally released to the public. Unfortunately for our environment and our food supply, the final deal is even worse than we previously thought.
In the words of Michael Brune, the executive director of the Sierra Club, "We now have concrete evidence that the Trans-Pacific Partnership threatens our families, our communities, and our environment."
He added, "It's no surprise that the deal is rife with polluter giveaways that would undermine decades of environmental progress, threaten our climate, and fail to adequately protect wildlife because big polluters helped write the deal."
And, after reviewing the details, the Sierra Club wasn't the only group that expressed their concern.
Wenonah Hauter of EcoWatch.com warned about the devastating effect on our right to know what's in our food. She said, "The language included in the TPP is more aggressive than previous trade deals and provides broad new powers for other countries and foreign corporations to challenge U.S. food safety and food labeling measures."
In other words, GMO food producers can challenge our labeling laws if they predict that those laws will interfere even slightly with their prospective profits.
This massive trade agreement would be the largest in our global history, and it would harm our nation in ways we have never before seen.
Our lawmakers have already given up their right to negotiate or change what's in this disastrous deal, so the only option we have left is to demand that they reject the entire thing.
For the sake of our workers, our environment, and our food supply we better stop SHAFTA while we still have a chance.
-Thom
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