Washington, DC – In response to the release (Link to: http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Majority.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=240662f6-802a-23ad-4716-3af9a8adb9c7&Designation=Majority) by Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Barbara Boxer of principles for global warming legislation, NFTC Vice President for Global Trade Issues Jake Colvin put out the following statement:
“We applaud the initiative of Senator Boxer and the Committee on one of the most urgent issues of our time. As the Committee’s Principles for Global Warming Legislation suggest, working with the international community will be key to ensuring an effective response to global warming.
“We urge the Obama Administration and Congress to work with our international partners to create viable multilateral frameworks under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and through other forums such as the World Trade Organization, to incentivize reductions in carbon emissions.
“Incentivizing emissions reductions abroad through unilateral legislative measures – especially punitive ones – will be complicated and difficult to achieve at best. At worst, such efforts could interfere with the United States’ international obligations as well as the global competitiveness of U.S. businesses.”
The NFTC in December 2007 released a report, which details WTO-Compatibility of Proposed U.S. Climate Change Legislation. For a complete copy of the report, please click here.
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Advancing Global Commerce for Over 90 Years
The National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org) is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules-based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
