Paraguayan President Federico Franco announced that he “respectfully but energetically” opposes Argentina’s plans for a nuclear power station in the northern province of Formosa, on the banks of the Paraguay River. Though detailed plans for the plant have not been issued, Franco said on July 4 that he wanted his country’s objections considered before the project is underway. He said that if the nuclear plant goes forward, Paraguay is prepared to make its case to the Organization of American States and the United Nations. Franco, who is due to turn power over on Aug. 15 to Paraguayan President-elect Horacio Cartes, was reacting to news that since 2010, Argentina has been studying the possibility of building a 150-megawatt atomic plant in Formosa. That news...
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Environmental officials from Canada, Mexico and the United States agreed this month on a package of knowledge-sharing and data-gathering measures aimed at improving air quality by addressing truck-traffic congestion. Trucks carry the lion’s share of the goods traded among the three countries, accounting for around 60% of U.S. commerce with its North American partners. But officials for years have been concerned about the long lines of trucks that often form at border checkpoints. That is because many vehicles keep their engines running to maintain refrigeration systems for perishable foods, contributing to greenhouse-gas emissions and health problems. In response, officials at a July 10-11 gathering in Los Cabos, Mexico launched an intensive study of emissions at key border crossings with a view...
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Six months before stricter air-quality standards for sulfur dioxide are due to take effect in Peru, the country’s Environment Ministry backpedaled on the deadline after two smelter operators complained that the new rules could put them out of business. Under a 2008 decree, a standard of 80 micrograms of sulfur dioxide per cubic meter of air over a 24-hour period, which took effect in 2009, is set to drop to 20 micrograms on Jan. 1, 2014. That change will bring the country into line with World Health Organization recommendations. In recent weeks, however, the operators of the Doe Run smelter in La Oroya, and Southern Copper Corp., which runs a smelter in the southern coastal city of Ilo, said they could not comply...
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Brazil’s National Environmental Council (Conama) has published a resolution intended to relieve overcrowded shelters for illegally traded wild animals seized by enforcement agents, a move that animal rights advocates contend legalizes and encourages animal trafficking. The resolution by Conama, a 108-member, multi-stakeholder regulatory body, allows individuals who have up to 10 wild animals as pets to continue to shelter them, and allows people who want to shelter wild animals seized from traffickers to become the guardians of up to 10 of these animals. But the resolution does not remove existing fines of R$500 ($220) to R$5,000 ($2,200) per animal for the purchase or sale of wildlife—fines whose definitive size is determined by how threatened the particular species is. Published on...
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