Monday, January 21, 2008

US warns EU against using environment for protectionism

In E.L. Doctorow's novel Ragtime, a passing newspaper headline says, "Teddy Roosevelt accuses Coolidge of finding war deplorable." We can always count on the Bush administration to intensify a similar irony, found in this story from Agence France-Presse.

If anything environmental disrupts the droning chant of free trade, the environment must give way: Trade Representative Susan Schwab warned Europe on Monday against using environmental issues as an excuse for protectionism amid disputes ranging from biotechnology to greenhouse gas emissions.

"We have been dismayed at a variety of suggestions where we see climate or the environment being used as an excuse to close markets," Schwab said after talks with EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson....

Roosevelt photo from AP file.

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