Earth Equity News

Brazil's Environment Minister Resigns Amidst Controversy Over the Amazon. By Peter Muello, AP, May 13, 2008. "Environment Minister Marina Silva resigned Tuesday, ending an often stormy six-year term that put her in conflict with developers in the Amazon rain forest. Silva did not say why she was stepping down... But Sergio Leitao, director of public policy for Greenpeace in Brazil, said the minister is leaving because the pressure on her for taking the measures she took against deforestation has become unbearable. 'Brazil is losing the only voice in the government that spoke out for the environment,' Leitao said. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva picked Carlos Minc, the environment secretary for Rio de Janeiro state, to be the new national environmental minister, according to the government's official Agencia Brasil news service. The president's office has yet to comment on Marina Silva's resignation."