After Brazil’s right-wing Congress in July approved what green advocates call a “devastation bill,” the stage was set in August for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to veto the environmental-permitting legislation’s most damaging provisions. Signing the bill on Aug. 8, Lula did indeed make selective use of his veto power, partially or totally blocking 63 of the legislation’s 400 measures. But the president’s pushback is being criticized by green advocates and scientists as insufficient. They say his vetoes, even if all are upheld, fall far short of mitigating destructive impacts of the bill, which Congress’s powerful agribusiness lobby is promoting with the openly stated aim of dramatically curtailing environmental regulation. At issue is a sprawling permitting-reform bill that cleared Brazil’s right-wing Congress on July 17. Lula signed the legislation on Aug. 8 subject to the vetoes he issued, any or all of which could be... [Log in to read more]