Blue and Green and Ready to Stop Illegally Logged Timber

by Mike Hall, Mar 12, 2007

The United Steelworkers (USW) and the Sierra Club are working together as part of the Blue Green Alliance to try to curb the trade of certain products made from illegally logged timber.

The two have called on the U.S. Department of Commerce to expand an existing investigation of unfair trade subsidies from illegal logging that violate international environmental standards and undercut the U.S. paper industry. They want the Commerce Department to investigate whether paper companies in Indonesia benefit from an unfair subsidy in the production of high-gloss and coated paper products made in part by using illegally logged timber.

It is the first time that unions and environmental groups have joined together to raise an environmental concern in this type of trade case.

Says David Foster, executive director of the Blue Green Alliance.

The Indonesian logging case is a prime example of how international trade undermines environmental standards in this country while putting severe economic pressure on workers and their communities. We need a trade model that elevates living standards and environmental practices, instead of tearing them down.

USW and the Sierra Club formed the Blue Green Alliance in 2006 to advocate together on trade, job and environmental issues. For more information, visit the USW and the Sierra Club.
 
  

Print This Article | E-Mail This Article |Comments (0)