Trans-Pacific Partnership Could Bring Environmental Disaster, Activists Say

Activists are alarmed at the environmental damage the TPP may cause.

The Senate voted Tuesday against fast-tracking the deal, which would have allowed the Obama administration to present the TPP to Congress as a straight up and down vote.

Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and other environmentalists have publically denounced the TPP.

Supporters of the deal, however, argue that it’s a step in the right direction for the global economy.

“Any sort of general purpose environmental law or regulation that a government wants to enact will not be successfully litigated,” Josh Meltzer, a global development fellow at the Brookings Institute, told Think Progress.

Opponents fear the TTP would lead to legal battles questioning governments’ abilities to limit pollution.

Last year, the American mining company Lone Pine Resources sued the Canadian province of Quebec for passing a ban on fracking, which it says cost the company $250 million, a lost that Quebec was liable for under the North American Free Trade Agreement. This lawsuit is ongoing.

In another lawsuit, Chevron alleged that Ecuadorian activists defrauded the company after it was ordered to pay $18.2 billion in damages for environmental contamination.

Following Tuesday’s vote, the Senate has put the fast-track option back on the table on Thursday.