Sen. Jeff Merkley
D-Oregon

United States Senator

Washington, DC – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley today urged President Obama to include in the upcoming Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement new and stronger provisions to ensure that responsible U.S. businesses that pay well and meet high labor and environmental standards can compete successfully in the global economy which benefits all Americans, including the middle class.

Merkley’s letter asks the President to negotiate a new approach to labor and environmental standards that makes them enforceable using existing trade remedies. It also asks that the treaty crack down on the threats to U.S. businesses and workers from foreign industrial policies, such as subsidies from state-owned banks and forced technology transfers that disadvantage American businesses, especially manufacturers. In last night’s State of the Union address, President Obama vowed to put the finishing touches on the TPP.

“When free and fair, trade can encourage competition in the market, offer consumers a wider selection of better quality products at lower prices, and raise living standards around the world,” wrote Senator Merkley. “The success of our trade policies, like our economic success more broadly, should be measured by whether they move America’s middle class forward and help advance a vibrant, diverse economy with a robust manufacturing sector. I look forward to working with you to make trade with Asia a source of economic strength for U.S. businesses and workers.”

Ideas presented by Senator Merkley in his letter to President Obama to strengthen the upcoming TPP Agreement include:

Specifically and powerfully addressing the multi-tiered industrial policies that are particularly prominent in the Pacific region and that pose a serious threat to a free and open global trading regime, including:

* trade-distorting subsidy programs and practices, such as major, inappropriate grants for cheap land and utilities, preferential loans from export development banks, and discriminatory or unaccountable tax rebates;
* broad-based industrial subsidies such as strategically misaligned currencies, discriminatory policies that favor state-owned enterprises, and artificially cheap financing from state-owned banking systems; and
* strategic non-tariff barriers, such as mandatory joint venture requirements, forced technology transfers, opaque approval processes, and discriminatory technology standards.
* Taking a new and creative approach to stopping the global “race to the bottom” on labor and environmental practices , specifically by setting standards for fair labor and environmental practices, and making them enforceable using the same tools available for enforcing other provisions of trade agreements.

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Newport City Council
Monday, February 4

Doug Wills, Oly Olsen
Log Truck Safety Task Force

Pushing lower speed limits farther east
Helps to make Highway 20 @ Moore safer

Moving northbound Moore stop line back a little
Gives trucks more room to turn left off Hwy 20

Eliminating parking on Moore
From Highway 20 down Moore

Special turn lanes on Moore
Three left turn options including into the bank

Better signage
At Bay Road and Moore

Improved Moore @ Bay Road Intersection
E/B Bay “grabber” stop sign. Easier right up hill from Bay.

Resident with long list of complaints
Noise, traffic, pollution, neighborhood disruption

Neighbor opposed due to danger of trucks
50 trucks a day = 100 runs up and down Moore
Wants accident history at Moore @ Bay

Longshoreman Yale Fogary
Log exports mean family wage jobs
It won’t be anywhere near as bad as neighbors fear

The Newport City Council spent more time Monday night listening to residents along Moore Road express fears for their children’s safety, air and noise pollution, traffic issues, diminishment of their property values and a young doctor saying he may leave the area if logging truck are allowed to use Moore Road as a connector link between Highway 20 and Newport’s new International Terminal. If all goes according to plan, up to 50 logging trucks a day will start in September or October to deliver logs to the the terminal for shipment to China. Trucking operations are expected to run 7am to 4:30pm Monday through Friday. No trucks on the weekend or other holidays or on days when there are large tourist events going on like Seafood and Wine. They also reminded the council that up to 60 family wage jobs will likely be created by the new log export operation.

Logging Truck Safety Task Force members Doug Wills and Oly Olsen again outlined to the city council of their plans to slow traffic coming down Highway 20 into to Newport, modifying the intersection at 20 and Moore Road, eliminating parking along stretches of Moore, creating several left turn lanes to the east, a realigned intersection at Bay and Moore with better signage as well enhancing motorist visibilities all around at Moore and Bay roads.

Wills again reiterated that the task force is strongly committed to finding an alternate route for the logging trucks to exit Highway 20 and down to the International Terminal. Wills said “It will take negotiations with land owners, finding grant and other funds and then building the road. It won’t happen overnight,” he said. “But we are definitely pursuing it.”

However, Moore Road neighbors were unmoved. They claimed logging trucks lumbering down their street will be disruptive and that their noise and diesel smoke will deter tourists who normally would want to stay at hotels at the bottom of the hill. Another neighbor railed about invasive species known to hitch rides on ships from the far east and invading American shores. Another contended that 50 trucks a day, which could mushroom into many more than that, pose a severe threat to the motoring public. He asked Police Chief Mark Miranda to provide a history of traffic accidents on Moore road.

To the fear of invasive species that are found occasionally in ships’ bilge water, staff reminded the council that the Coast Guard and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality are in charge of inspecting ships to ensure they do their bilge water exchange in open ocean well offshore. Wills and Olsen also reiterated the improvements at the intersection of Moore and Bay Roads that will make the intersection much safer with wider lanes, better visibility of oncoming traffic and bright LED lighting on stop signs and pedestrian warning lights.

City councilors said that they and Newport Port Commissioners will hold a town hall type meeting on the logging export issue either in late February or early March duringwhich the public can ask more questions and discuss the project.

As a possible indication that they expect the project to proceed, the council voted unanimously to send a letter to ODOT, signed by the council and the port, that they want speed limits modified on Highway 20 to slow down traffic farther to the east to enhance safety at 20 and Moore Road.

Meanwhile, a recent Traffic Impact Analysis on the truck traffic is still being finalized by the consultants and Teevin Brothers. Teevin Brothers is the logging operation company that is expected to sign a contract shortly with the port to begin operations in September or October.

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Gov. John Kitzhaber

Governor John Kitzhaber called for what may be a one day special session of Oregon State Legislature on December 17th. Kitzhaber has been approached by Nike with a promise to greatly expand their industrial operations in Oregon if the state doesn’t change its tax situation. Kitzhaber said, if you provide the jobs, we’ll supply the stability. We’ll see if it works. The story is in the Statesman Journal. Click here.

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The White House Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) shined a bright light today on what would happen if the Congress can’t agree on who should pay what level of taxes and what programs should be cut in order to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff.” The CEA even had an estimate of economic impacts on Oregon. The story is in the Oregonian. Click here.

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