What are the connections between trade agreements, pollution, and labor exploitation?

[Christine]

I found this discussion question in the same guide Stacia mentioned.

What are the connections between trade agreements, pollution, and labor exploitation?

I don't know about you guys but I found this chapter very disturbing. I never even thought about how trade rules and regulations like the WTO and the Free Trade Agreement could possibly deter green energy programs and progressive renewable initiatives from getting off the ground. I thought it was absolutely insane how Naomi mentions that countries will rush to bash each other for whatever they can get their hands on at UN summits instead of competing with each other for creating the best most efficient form of clean energy production.

Pablo Maccaario's story about how he moved his Italian solar company to Toronto in 2010 when the prospects were looking positive for clean energy in Ontario was nothing but depressing to read about. By 2012 with only one coal-fired power plant left, the province was well on its way to completely coming off of coal and gas. When legislation created the feed-in tariff program allowing for energy providers to sell back to the grid, the catch was they had to source 40-60% of their materials from within the province.

As soon as word got out, Japan and the EU were not happy about this locally sourced content requirement. And just like that, fingers were pointed, charges were pressed, and foreign investors pulled out. Leaving poor Maccaario and his solar lab as if it were an abandoned junk yard.

It makes you think about what else these countries are stopping from coming into fruition all in the name of power and money, claiming that these kind of buy local incentives lead to free trade distortion. The fact that this has come down to even stopping the creation of hundreds of clean and local jobs is sickening.

This kind of shit unfortunately leads to deals like NAFTA and TAFTA. I remember one of my first dates with Louis, he brought up TAFTA and the horrors of the US potentially bringing in extremely controversial extractive practices, like fracking, into France....a country where fracking has been banned for years! I had no idea that this was even being talked about, embarrassing.

What do you guys think about how our world and our environment will be affected by the regulations or lack thereof by free trade and globalization?

[Pamela]

So I think this all ties into our mentality that we don't need to worry about the environment right now and we need to concentrate on continuing to be world powers. I don't agree with that mentality at all because it makes it seem like the environment is a commodity that can be played with. We continue to believe that the planet has infinite resources, when in fact it's been proven time and time again that it is actually the opposite! Soon enough we will get to say I told you so but that's not a situation I would be happy with.