Mark Udall Quotes

In May 2007, congressional Democrats and the Bush administration agreed to a plan to include environmental and international labor standards in upcoming trade agreements.

Regulation is necessary to protect our natural environment, keep our food and medicine safe, and ensure fair competition and fair treatment of our workers.

Sustainable development is a fundamental break that's going to reshuffle the entire deck. There are companies today that are going to dominate in the future simply because they understand that.

What pleases me most is that sustainable development is on almost everybody's agenda now.

I want to tell mayors, county chiefs and heads of big companies: don't just chase GDP growth; don't chase the biggest profits at the expense of our children and grandchildren and at the cost of sacrificing our ecological environment.

We learned that economic growth and environmental protection can and should go hand in hand.

We don't have to sacrifice a strong economy for a healthy environment.

The premise is simple: One economy and one environment, and they're interdependent.

Free trade would place our farmers and workers in competition with peasant and sweated labor products.

The global economy shall not run without the consent of the workers….We demand fair trade, not free trade.

There is nothing inconsistent between standing up for free trade and standing up for American workers.

Free trade is good but not as good as fair trade.

Without the U.S. leading the way in trade negotiations, we likely will see irreversible damage to our environment and widespread abuse of labor and human rights, all while we lose out on the opportunity to expand our economy and create jobs.

I am all in favor of growing the American economy and engaging in trade with the world, but not at the expense of American workers. The North American Free Trade Agreement is a perfect example of this. Ask the textile workers of North Carolina how NAFTA worked out for them - if you can find any.

Our economic future and our energy future are one in the same, and it's a future America can't shrink from. We must shape it, just as we've always done. We have to protect our planet from the threat of climate change and ensure that workers have the skills to compete for good middle-class jobs.

We could have managed globalization in ways that ordinary citizens would have benefited rather than just the corporations. Trade is beneficial. There are gains to be had from taking advantage of comparative advantage and specialization. That's true, if you manage globalization right.

We can be about jobs and growth and be good stewards of our environment.

The United States needs an energy policy that ensures America's tax, trade, regulatory and access policies are transparent and predictable.

Whether it is clamping down on tax avoidance by multinationals, setting ambitious targets for tackling climate change, or reforming the posted workers' directive to better protect migrant workers, European countries are working together to get things done.

I would rather my constituents were warm and prosperous than cold and impoverished as we are overtaken by emerging markets who understandably put people before polar bears.

We want trade agreements that aid development and increase prosperity, growth and productivity at home and in our trade partner countries.

Beyond advocating for greater access to consumer markets abroad, we need to go one step further and advocate for a higher quality of life for the people who are the driving force behind them.

People in the business world lament economic resources wasted on unsustainable development projects and what they see as activists' naive failure to grasp the importance of building strong economies.

If we have an agreement with a country like Mexico, that doesn't support or protect the rights of workers, that doesn't have the same environmental regulations, how can Canadians ever compete with that jurisdiction?

Argentina shows opportunity for doing good business, taking care of the environment to fight climate change, paying taxes. Argentina will continue to grow.