The Americas 2008: A Year in Retrospective AS/COA Online 12/23/08

View a slideshow of the most compelling events in the hemisphere. Also, read an article by AS/COA Online Managing Editor Carin Zissis on the most riveting events affecting the Americas in 2008.

Click the image to watch the photo gallery.

Brazil Vows to Curb Deforestation AS/COA Online 12/03/08

A raft in Belem, Brazil loaded with illegally cut logs. (AP Images)

With Amazonian deforestation on the rise, Brazil’s environmental ministry on Monday announced an ambitious plan to curb rainforest destruction. As a UN-led climate change conference got underway in Poland, Brazilian Environment Minister Carlos Minc unveiled the initiative, which would seek to cut deforestation rates by 72 percent by 2017. The plan also offers proposals to increase biofuel production without using more arable land while decreasing carbon dioxide emissions by 4.8 billion tons in the same 9-year period.

During his remarks, Minc emphasized that this voluntary effort puts Brazil in the vanguard on climate change issues, marking a shift from past policies that placed responsibility for curbing global warming on the shoulders of industrialized nations. But the efforts come as the Brazilian government finds itself pressured on one side by conservationists ringing alarm bells with deforestation figures and on the other side by cattle ranchers and soy growers who cashed in on the recent commodity boom.

At the UN’s 2007 General Assembly, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called for more actions from industrialized countries to curb carbon emissions, praising Brazil’s decreasing levels of deforestation over the course of the three previous years. Then the government’s environmental record suffered a setback when Brazil’s National Institute of Space Research revealed an increase in deforestation rates during the first five months of 2007.

In response, Lula’s government stepped up policing in the affected areas through an operation called “Arc of Fire,” initiated in February. The program allowed issuing of fines, arresting deforestation suspects, and impounding illegal cargo. Yet the program’s launch was followed with controversy over the resignation of former Environment Minister Marina Silva, a respected conservationist thought to have struggled with the perceived lack of political will to halt environmental destruction. She was replaced by Minc, who helped found the country’s Green Party.

Under Minc’s leadership, the ministry launched Amazônia Sustentável—the Amazon Fund—in August. The program involves the international community, drawing hefty donations from countries such as Norway, which pledged roughly $1 billion over the next seven years for sustainable development. Monday’s announcement of setting targets aimed at lowering deforestation served as another step in building support for protecting the Brazilian rainforest.

But Monday’s announcement of setting targets to limit Amazon destruction coincided with new data about rising deforestation rates, which have increased by 3.8 percent compared to last year. The BBC reports on the setback and says high commodity prices for staples like soy and beef served as an engine for deforestation. But the report also points out that estimates forecasted an even higher increase, which could signify that governmental policies have made progress. An analysis by mongabay.com’s Rhett Butler tracks deforestation rates in the Amazon using statistics available since 1988 until the present.

With the new plan to be presented at the UN’s climate change conference, environmentalists evaluated it by offering mixed praise, ranging from “better than never” to “a modest proposal.” NPR offers an analysis of expectations ahead of the conference in Poland.

The UN summit comes on the heels of last week’s environmental conference in Mexico, which brought together 70 legislators from across the Americas in a push to regulate land use. Tierramérica reports that the summit helped create a favorable climate for building a common strategy but warns that the new commission faces a long road in terms of hammering out results.

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Predicting U.S.-Brazil Ethanol Policy AS/COA Online 11/10/08

Byline shared with Carin Zissis.

An ethanol plant. Some firms have felt the crunch of rising production costs and lower prices. (AP Images)

With a new U.S. administration on the horizon, questions arise over opportunities for cooperation between Washington and Latin American countries in the field of biofuels. In particular, how will an Obama presidency affect collaboration and negotiations between the United States and Brazil in the field of ethanol?

In his latest Miami Herald column, Andres Oppenheimer suggests President-elect Barack shrink U.S. dependence on Middle Eastern oil by working with Brazil, Central America, and the Caribbean to produce sugar-based ethanol, which is both cheaper and better for the environment than the corn-based ethanol produced in the United States. During campaign season, the Obama-Biden ticket proposed working with leaders from across the hemisphere on a new “Energy Partnership for the Americas” to support of clean energy. Obama also voiced support for deepening relations with Brazil through developing markets for biofuels and promotion of “green” technology. The future president has praised Brazil, where more than 70 percent of cars are flex fuel, for providing a model for taking steps toward energy independence.

Yet Obama’s praise for the Brazilian biofuels industry may translate to supporting ethanol subsidies in the United States rather than reducing a tariff on Brazilian ethanol. Bloomberg reports that Obama will likely continue the current administration’s policies of subsidizing the industry, including tax credits.The cost of ethanol production has grown while more supplies of the fuel spell price drops. Less than a week before the November 4 election, VeraSun Energy, the biggest U.S. ethanol producer, filed for bankruptcy protection, according to the Financial Times.

In the past, Obama supported a 54 cent per gallon tariff on imports of sugar-based ethanol and voted for the Farm Bill, which maintains the tariff for two more years. The tariff has been a source of consternation for Brazil, which stands as the world’s biggest sugar-based ethanol producer. A New York Times article examines Obama’s ethanol policy on the campaign trail.

But in a May appearance on “Meet the Press,” Obama acknowledged that rising food prices could spur a policy change, saying, “[I]f it turns out that we’ve got to make changes in our ethanol policy to help people get something to eat, then that’s got to be the step we take.” Moreover, opportunities exist for cooperation with Latin American countries that would sidestep the tariff. By making use of its locations and a recently signed free-trade agreement with the United States, Peru stands poised to expand sugarcane-based ethanol production. AmericaEconomia reports that millions in investments from U.S., Brazilian, and domestic companies in northern Peru could lead to a production boost to supply the U.S. market, given that the FTA allows Peruvian products to enter the United States duty-free starting in 2009.

Meanwhile, Brazil’s ethanol industry could see short-term losses as a result of the credit crunch and related shrinking investments. Still, new deals are cropping up, such as a proposal by Archer Daniels Midland to invest $500 million over seven years in new sugar mills and boosting crop production in Brazil. Addressing a conference at the Organization of American States last month, former Brazilian Agriculture Minister and Co-Chairman of the Inter-American Ethanol Commission Roberto Rodriguez highlighted Brazil’s goal to increase the amount of sugarcane used in producing ethanol to 51 percent from the current level of 41 percent, offering growth and job opportunities.

In the Fall 2008 issue of Americas Quarterly, both Bolivian opposition leader President Jorge Quiroga and Gerdau Board Chair Jorge Gerdau Johannpeter suggest the next U.S. president should deepen ties with Brazil. Visit the new AQ website.

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It’s not Hard Being Green Dollars & Sense 05/15/06

The Solaire, which stands 27 stories high in Battery Park City, is a 3-year-old luxury rental building with sweeping views of the Hudson River that caters almost exclusively to young professionals working in the financial district. A few miles away, on East Third Street stands the seven-story Diversity Houses, developed by the Lower East Side People’s Mutual Housing Association to provide housing to low-income families from diverse ethnic backgrounds.

Despite the obvious differences, both buildings are part of the current real estate trend to develop more environmentally friendly residential buildings. But while both Solaire and Diversity Houses…

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Access the full 2006 Dollars & Sense issue here.