Some good news from South America (Brazil)

[Greyhound]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060214/ap_on_sc/brazil_amazon

"RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has created two new national parks in the
Amazon rain forest and expanded another to protect an environmentally sensitive region where the government plans a major highway project.
Silva signed a decree placing 3.7 million acres of rain forest off limits for development."

"In total, the decree granted some form of environmental protection to 16 million acres — an area roughly twice the size of Massachusetts — on the western side of the so-far unpaved BR-163 highway."

At least a little progress...

[OKNancy]

1. Please change your subject line to read

Brazil's President Creates Forest Reserves

The subject line of a post must match the article title.

Thanks

[catmother]

2. good for him.

;-)

[sasha031]

3. ever see the movie The Emerald Forest

I just rented it a week ago, I was so moved...if only humanity left things alone...

[Peace Patriot]

4. Well, I think we should consult local environmental groups and indigenous

tribes before we call this 100% good news. We don't know what compromises might have been involved, and what pristine areas are still open to destruction. I know of one company, called Precious Woods Amazon--a Swiss concern--that is entering virgin Amazon hardwood forest, targeting the oldest trees, building extensive new roads, and over-logging, all under a "Forest Stewardship Council" label (a supposedly "green" group that has been taken over by big timber interests and now has ties to the World Bank). They are pushing the local economy away from diversification, and back toward more logging.

It's extremely difficult for a poor country, that has suffered centuries of exploitation, and has a large population of very poor people, to resist the temptation to damage its environment in exploiting natural resources. Venezuela suffers the same conflict. If asked, most people--including most poor people--want the environment protected, and certainly want to live in a green and healthy place, and in a green and healthy world. But the demands of employment and development are also great. Leftist governments are in the position of having to provide jobs, food, a living, education, empowerment of people, AND to respond to the majority's equal desire to preserve the environment. Fascist governments don't need to care about either thing. They hold power by means of money and the military.

At least Lulu is doing SOMETHING--and this is a large protection area. And I think the reason is that they have TRANSPARENT elections in Latin America now--after years of hard work by local election and other civic groups, the OAS, EU Election groups and the Carter Center. Populist leftist governments have been sweeping South American elections over the last several years--in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Venezuela, and recently Bolivia. Virtually the entire map of the subcontinent has turned "blue." Peru will likely be next. And it looks like Mexico may join the trend.

Transparent elections = good, people-loving, leftist government.

We have a lot of work to do here on this matter!

[Moderator]

5. Lock

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