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A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Adam Russell, (202) 222-0722, arussell@foe.org

Statement on Larry Summers' Withdrawal from Fed Consideration

WASHINGTON

Below is a statement from Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica on the Larry Summers' withdrawal from consideration for chair of the Federal Reserve.

"Larry Summers' withdrawal from consideration for the chair of the Federal Reserve is a victory for working families, the environment, women and those who suffered from the deregulatory zeal that Summers brought to his positions advising Presidents Obama and Clinton.

"However, Summers' withdrawal is not enough.

"It's time to reject the continuance of policies that Summers championed beginning with trade deals like the Transpacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. These secretly-negotiated deals would impose enforceable rules based on Summers' philosophy of catering to Wall Street, undermining the bargaining power of workers, restricting environmental and public interest regulations, and generally putting profits over people and the planet. President Obama must understand that the public rejection of Larry Summers as Federal Reserve chair is also a rejection of the economic policies that he championed -- including trade deals written to the specifications of international financiers and corporate CEOs."

Friends of the Earth fights for a more healthy and just world. Together we speak truth to power and expose those who endanger the health of people and the planet for corporate profit. We organize to build long-term political power and campaign to change the rules of our economic and political systems that create injustice and destroy nature.

(202) 783-7400