Hi, folks! I hope everyone had wonderful holidays, whatever they happen to be for you.
Just a quick update on the ongoing Brazilian forest code fiasco today—fortunately, the news is good, at least in the sense that it could be much worse. It looks as though the House of Representatives has decided to postpone its final vote until March, giving the Parliament something resembling a reasonable time frame to actually read the new bill thoroughly and, who knows, maybe implement some revisions that heed the massive outcry their constituents (and a fair number of non-citizens) have been grilling them with over the holiday season. Of course, you can be sure that the same Big-Ag special interest groups that tried to blitz the first draft through in November will be using this time to their fullest advantage as well, but I honestly can’t see a downside to this development: those of us who care about getting the most conservation-oriented revision actually have a fighting chance now!
Keep your eyes on the news, keep the pressure on President Rouseff if you haven’t already, and be sure to check back over the next week—I want to actually start talking about potential solutions to this mess at the social level. Until then, I hope everyone stays safe, happy and healthy!
Love, peace, and a better world,
-Ran-Zhen Rui
