Fast-track trade deal stirs U.S. pot

WASHINGTON, April 17 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry lauded a congressional measure to open international trade doors, though opponents said the measure puts the climate at risk.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and House Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., introduced legislation that would fast-track trade agreements with overseas partners.

"If we want to maintain our nation's economic leadership and promote American values around the world, we must reach beyond our borders, and this bill is a strong first step," Hatch said in a statement.

Potential European trading partners are looking to diversify an economy that depends in part on Russian natural resources. For U.S. allies, the abundance of natural gas from domestic shale basins could be used as a tool to break the Russian grip on the European economy.

Companies looking to send shale gas from the United States in the form of liquefied natural gas need a special permit to do so from the federal government if they seek to target economies without a free-trade agreement.

There are no free-trade agreements in place between the United States and European countries. The bicameral trade measure extends to a trans-Pacific arrangement to tap into energy-hungry economies in Asia.

"The United States must remain a leader in global trade, and not run the risk of being left on the sidelines while others set the course," Kerry said in a Thursday statement.

The European Union's trade commissioner last year said "protectionism" was restricting full access to important markets like the United States. Such restrictions, the commission said in a late 2014 report, were fueling uncertainty in the world economy.

Environmental groups worry opening U.S. energy doors would lead to more hydraulic fracturing and a continued reliance on fossil fuels.

"Members of Congress need to carefully evaluate the costs and consequences of trade deals on our economy and environment -- not to haphazardly push pacts over the finish line," Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said. The bill comes at a time when energy companies in the United States are trimming jobs because of lower oil prices. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the fast-track legislation is a "bad deal that lowers wages and outsources jobs."