Earth Equity News

Brazil Rainforest Analysis Sets Off Political Debate. By Alexei Barrionuevo, NYTimes, May 25, 2008. "Gilberto Camara, a scientist who leads Brazil's national space agency, is more at ease poring over satellite data of the Amazon than being thrust into the spotlight. But since January, Dr. Camara has been at the center of a political tug-of-war between scientists and Brazil's powerful business interests. It started when he and his fellow engineers released a report showing that deforestation of Brazil's portion of the rainforest seemed to have shot up again after two years of decline. Since then, Dr. Camara, who leads the National Institute for Space Research here, has found himself having to defend his agency's findings against one of Brazil's richest and most powerful men: Blairo Maggi, who is governor of the country's largest agricultural state, Mato Grosso, and a business owner known as the 'Soybean King.' Governor Maggi was exercised enough by the report -- which led to harsh measures stifling business in his state - that he asked for, and was granted, a meeting with the president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The stakes could not be higher for Mr. da Silva. Stewardship of the Amazon has always been a touchy subject, with many Brazilians fearful that world powers would try to impose their standards on the rainforest."