This story was originally published by Mother Jones and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
Environmental groups cheered when President Donald Trump pounded the last nail into the Trans-Pacific Partnership’s coffin, finalizing the United States’ anticipated withdrawal from the controversial trade deal. But the global trade and environment debate isn’t over by a long shot. Since the TPP’s demise, environmental groups like the Sierra Club have quickly refocused their efforts around the North American Free Trade Agreement — the 1994 trade deal brokered by the Bush and Clinton administrations between the United States, Canada, and Mexico — which Trump repeatedly criticized during his campaign and has indicated he wants to renegotiate quickly.
The original trade deal that set a precedent for many of the TPP’s provisions, NAFTA, has never scored well with environmentalists, despite being lauded by supporters as the first international trade deal ever to incorporate environmental and labor side agreements. Though its renegotiations could theoretically provide an opportunity to address the deal’s cri... Read more
