Brazil’s new President – a danger to environment and to action against climate change

Brazil elects Bolsonaro, who has threatened Amazon and global climate efforts Climate Home News, 29/10/2018,

Rightwing president-elect has pledged to open the rainforest to farming and industry, while slashing environmental protections and democratic rights By Megan Darby

Jair Bolsonaro is the next president of Brazil, sparking fears for the future of the Amazon rainforest and the global climate.

In Sunday’s run-off, the right-winger won 55% of the vote, beating Fernando Haddad of the Workers’ Party.

Bolsonaro has courted the mining and farming lobbies, pledging to roll back environmental protections and gut federal enforcement. Early in the campaign, he threatened to withdraw Brazil from the Paris Agreement, but backtracked last week after an outcry at home and abroad.

Scientists have warned his proposed policies will send deforestation soaring, predicting clearances the size of the UK each year within a decade. That would make it “all but impossible” for Brazil to meet its climate commitments, four experts wrote in Mongabay.

The authoritarian leader’s praise for dictatorship and hostile comments towards minorities and political activists have also raised concerns about democratic freedoms. …..

Bolsonaro’s victory is raising concerns abroad, including in Norway, a major funder of forest protection efforts in the Amazon. The Norwegian government rebuked the outgoing administration and slashed payments to the $1.1 billion Amazon Fund last year, over an uptick in deforestation rates.

Under Bolsonaro, the Brazilian government is expected to be less amenable to international influence. In his comments on the Paris Agreement, the president-elect has expressed that his main concern is preserving Brazilian sovereignty.

Norwegian environment minister Ola Elvestuen told Norway’s state broadcaster: “Brazil’s contribution to reducing deforestation in the Amazon has been one of the most important measures to curb climate change in the last decade… We want to continue the good cooperation with Brazil in the future too.”

Ines Luna, a campaigner with Rainforest Foundation Norway said: “Of course we are extremely worried that Brazil will change its climate policies.”….http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/10/29/brazil-elects-bolsonaro-threatened-amazon-global-climate-efforts/

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Press freedom: Criminalizing journalistic activity NYT,

The Context

Prosecutors recently expanded a criminal case against Julian Assange to include accusations that he violated the Espionage Act by soliciting, obtaining, and publishing classified documents leaked in 2010 by Chelsea Manning, which could establish a precedent that such common journalistic activities (a separate question from whether Assange counts as a “journalist”) can be treated as a crime in America.

The Question

Are these charges constitutional? Would your administration continue the Espionage Act part of the case against Assange?……..

Elizabeth Warren, Senator from Massachusetts,

Whatever one’s opinions of Julian Assange, these charges under the Espionage Act set a precedent that could be used to target journalists. We should not be using this case as a pretext to wage war on the First Amendment and go after the free press who hold the powerful accountable everyday. more https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/us/politics/press-freedoms-executive-power.html

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