Climate change protesters interrupted an event featuring Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, with security escorting the administration official out of the room and temporarily stopping discussions.
At the beginning of Ms. Raimondo’s presentation on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) at the Wilson Center on July 25, three demonstrators walked to the stage, repeatedly shouting: “End fossil fuels, Gina! End fossil fuels!”
The protesters then sat down and continued to chant, “We need clean air! Not another billionaire.” One of them scolded Ms. Raimondo over the White House approval of the $39 billion Alaska LNG project.
“Why did your administration approve the Alaska LNG project, which does more harm to the climate than Willow?” one protester shouted.
The referenced energy project aims to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Asian countries and hopes to compete with Russia. The Willow Project involves drilling by ConocoPhillips on public land, the plain of the North Slope of Alaska. It was approved by the Biden administration in March, sparking outrage among climate activists.
Security tried to persuade the protesters to leave—without success.
“Please don’t touch me. This is assault,” one protester shouted.
Guards were able to escort the two other protesters out of the room.
Ms. Raimondo and economist Sadek Wahba, Chair of the Wahba Institute for Strategic Competition (WISC), exited the conference room. They returned about 20 minutes later.
‘Integrated Economic Strategy’
In May 2022, the White House launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework to promote a strategy that facilitates improved economic relations and strengthening diplomatic ties with 14 countries in the region, including India, Indonesia, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Vietnam. IPEF covers four so-called critical pillars in a region representing 40 percent of the global GDP and 28 percent of the worldwide goods and services trade: connectivity and digital trade, clean energy, corruption-free fair trade, and resilient supply chains.“This is an incredibly important part of the world: fast-growing economies, dynamic economies, emerging and developed economies,” Ms. Raimondo said. “And so, President Biden said we have to be present. We need a framework to have a strong integrated economic strategy with these countries.”
She noted that the plan was manufactured in response to the struggles that transpired throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Soon after Ms. Raimondo was named Commerce Secretary, Ford and General Motors temporarily shut down operations in the Midwest and furloughed thousands of workers because they could not gain access to semiconductor chips due to a coronavirus outbreak that forced a Malaysian packing operation to close.
By employing sustainable infrastructure, strengthening supply chains, and establishing early alert systems by sharing information, the United States can avoid these types of problems in the future, Ms. Raimondo noted.
“We have to be present,” she stated. “It is increased economic presence by the United States in this region.”
Ultimately, the administration champions IPEF as a benign initiative to bolster global economic growth.
“The unifying theme in the IPEF engagements go to economic issue areas and topics, whereby collaboration, the United States and these partners in the Indo-Pacific can promote more resilient, more sustainable and more inclusive economies,” U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said at an April online news conference.
But some observers believe these efforts are part of a plan to resuscitate U.S. influence in the region and diminish China’s growing economic power in the area. Some experts contend that IPEF is Washington’s response to Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), an international infrastructure development strategy established by the Chinese government a decade ago.
Others also make the case that IPEF is TPP’s indirect successor. The controversial 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership—now identified as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)—was a proposed trade agreement involving the United States, Canada, Mexico, and several Indo-Pacific countries. The objective was to reduce dependence on Chinese trade, but critics warned that it would have destroyed American businesses, cost U.S. jobs, and forced the U.S. economy to continue importing cheaper goods.
Overall, experts aver that IPEF is a positive development for both the United States and the Indo-Pacific region.
“We believe the Biden administration’s proposed Indo-Pacific economic framework concept holds promise. However, a number of substantive and organizational questions will need to be answered for the framework to be seen as credible and durable by regional partners and U.S. stakeholders.”
