Hoffa Urges Retention of Carbon Tariffs To Ensure Level Playing Field

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa today praised Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., for introducing climate legislation that would expand states' recycling networks. Hoffa also urged inclusion of strong provisions to prevent foreign competitors from getting an unfair advantage over U.S. manufacturers.

The bill recognizes recycling as a climate strategy that uses less energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions from landfills. It provides money for a "State Recycling Program" that would increase and improve states' recycling efforts. Studies show that recycling creates 10 times as many jobs per ton of waste as landfills and incinerators.

"We need to get this country running on clean energy to jumpstart our economy," Hoffa said. "This bill promotes two things that will help make America a leader again: recycling and good-paying jobs."

The State Recycling Program includes projects that reduce the energy used by transportation fleets and recycling equipment. It provides funding for job training and education. It gives money to manufacturing facilities that deploy new technology to use more recycled material or reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And it encourages technology that reduces or avoids greenhouse gas emissions, increases collection rates or improves the quality of recyclable material.

"Increasing recycling rates will create good-paying jobs that will help stimulate our economy," said Robert Morales, Director of the Teamsters Union Solid Waste, Recycling and Related Division."

The bill states that it will in the future contain a provision that allows the U.S. to impose some sort of penalty on imports from countries that don't reduce their emissions.

"We've got to make China and India do the same thing we have to do," Hoffa said. "We just can't encourage companies to move jobs in clean U.S. factories to dirty factories overseas.

"The way to level the playing field with China and India is through a border adjustment mechanism such as the carbon tariffs included in Waxman-Markey. Fair play is not protectionism and these proposed tariffs are about fair play."

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters

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