Bolsonaro Allows Politics Before Amazon’s Preservation

By: Sammy Quarrato

Bolsonaro requested an apology from Macron for berating him. Credit: france24.com

As everyone knows by now, the Amazon rainforest has been causing both ecosystemic and political heat (no pun intended).

Ever since the Amazon rainforest has caught fire, overall political tensions have risen on an international level due to the mass awareness of the Amazon rainforest and the horrific fires spreading in it.

The President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has also been getting roasted by the mass media, twitter junkies, and environmentalists for his poor response about anything or anyone related to the Amazon rainforest fires.

French President Emmanuel Macron is known for being an environmentalist mostly due to his large ongoing support for his country’s part in the Paris Climate Accords.

Macron berated the President of Brazil to help his own country’s wildlife before it could cause any further and unnecessary damage to the President’s own ecosystem.

Bolsonaro was offered many donations from different sources but the Brazilian president refused to accept any of them, including one that was around $22 million due to demanding an apology from French President Macron.

He would later hint at changing his mind but has so far not done so, despite G7 offering Brazil a generous amount of money to combat the forest fires which have taken millions of acres of the rainforest already.

Earth Alliance’s Amazon Forest Fund has contributed 100% of it’s funds to the effort to end the spreading fires of the Amazon and to aid its recovery which is worth about $5 million.

Another issue at hand among the multitude of problems is who or what caused the fires to start.

Brazil’s Minister of the Environment, Ricardo Salles, tweeted about the fires being caused by “dry weather, wind, and heat.” CNN meteorologist Haley Brink is certain that they were “human-induced.” 

Alongside that, Brazil rejected millions in Amazon aid while Bolsonaro hinted at reversing that decision.

There are other theories that suggest that due to the Brazilian government’s stance on the Amazon rainforest in the past, it was awfully convenient for them to have a fire that has so far burned 2.5 million acres of land.

Although it’s considered a conspiracy theory to some, there are groups of the general population that believe the government is doing its best at not doing anything to stop the disaster from becoming worse.

The Amazon rainforest makes up about 10% of the Earth’s known biodiversity.

This includes trees, plants, animals, flowers, etc. This causes greater concern considering how big the rainforest is and how scientists think the remnants of extinct species are still roaming around.

The Amazon also produces 20% of the Earth’s oxygen which is obviously a large threat if the entire forest burned to a crisp. Almost a quarter of our oxygen would be gone due to the inaction and poor response of a government.

The Banner Talks podcast discusses this subject in a segment called “Between the Stripes” with Sammy, Dejon, and Chermo. During the discussion Chermo gives a simple solution to the problem Bolsonaro is having with Macron: “Your country [Brazil] is burning, you’re a leader, forget about that.”
It’s easier said than done but what’s certain is that if a similar mindset is not adopted by Brazil’s government, it will surely burn.