The administration of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and its allies in Congress are facing strong pushback over proposals and actions seen as hostile to the environment. A striking example came this month, when eight of the nine people to serve as Brazilian environment minister since Sept. 1993 jointly condemned the policies of Bolsonaro and the man he installed in the post—Ricardo Salles. In a letter issued on May 8, they also denounced administration-backed congressional bills on grounds these would eviscerate environmental safeguards. The former ministers, whose politics range from center-right to center-left, did not mention Bolsonaro or Salles by name, but they clearly aimed their salvo at the top. “We are witnessing a series of unprecedented actions that drain the government of its capacity to create and implement Environment Ministry policy,” they wrote. “Development can’t occur without environmental protection. In the 21st century, Brazil cannot turn... [Log in to read more]