Bolsonaro, Trump and the nationalists ignoring climate disaster

  VIEW ON WEB >     Edited by Ruby Mellen Share Share Tips/Feedback   BY ISHAAN THAROOR Bolsonaro, Trump and the nationalists ignoring climate disaster (Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters; Eraldo Peres/AP; Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post; iStock) President Trump and leaders of the other Group of Seven nations will meet at the seaside French town of Biarritz this weekend for a ritzy get-together that hopes to be defined by its eco-friendliness. Summit attendees will be made aware of local reforestation plans that help offset the event’s carbon footprint; they can drink water from “environmentally responsible” bottles, pedal around on hydrogen-powered bikes, hop on trams that run on renewable energy, and dine on food sourced from local and sustainable supply chains. If it all feels a bit cosmetic, it should. In the form of Trump, the G-7 is playing host to the world’s climate denier in chief, a president who has called global warming a hoax and, since taking office, worked assiduously to roll back U.S. environmental protections. Then there’s the backdrop to the proceedings: By the end of the summer, some 440 billion tons of ice will have calved off Greenland’s ice sheet — the consequence of record heat waves. And when the planet isn’t melting, it’s ablaze. This week, global attention fell on the Amazon rainforest, where widespread fires led to the city of Sao Paulo — the largest metropolis in the Western hemisphere — being cloaked in dark smoke. Videos uploaded on social media showed vast stretches of devastation, with animals scurrying for shelter within the charred husk of the forest. Online hashtags urging action and prayers for the Amazon went viral, proliferated by Hollywood celebrities, French President Emmanuel Macron and others. “According to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, the fires have led to a clear spike in carbon monoxide emissions as well as planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions, posing a threat to human health and aggravating global warming,” noted Andrew Freedman of the Capital Weather Gang. “The Amazon rainforest serves as the lungs of the planet, taking in carbon dioxide, storing it in soils and producing oxygen. Scientists agree that it is one of the world’s great defenses against climate change,” wrote my colleague Terrence McCoy. “In Brazil, it has suffered 74,155 fires since January, the space research institute reported. That’s up 85 percent from last year and significantly higher than the 67,790 blazes at this point in 2016, when there were severe drought conditions in the region associated with a strong El Niño event.” In this instance, climactic conditions don’t explain the surge in fires. Instead, many point to the government of far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who came to power vowing to end or loosen up protections for forested areas inhabited by indigenous people in favor of the country’s powerful agribusiness industry. Some of the blazes were probably started by emboldened cattle ranchers or farmers seeking to clear new land for cultivation or pasture. In the space of little more than a year, critics argue, Bolsonaro has reignited the “arc of fire” that ravaged the Amazon rainforest in the 1970s and ’80s. “I cannot remember any other big fire episode like this one,” Vitor Gomes, an environmental scientist at the Federal University of Para, told my colleagues. “It is also sharply overlapped with the increased deforestation. Attributing the whole episode to natural causes only is practically impossible.” Bolsonaro, though, is contemptuous of his domestic opponents and international critics. He has dismissed the findings of his own government’s scientific agencies as “lies” and advised those concerned about global warming to eat and defecate less, because that would collectively bring down emissions. This week, he accused left-wing nongovernmental organizations of deliberately starting the fires, but later admitted that he had no evidence to back up the claim. “Everything indicates that people went there to film and then to set fires,” he said. “That is my feeling.” Bolsonaro’s stance here is part of his broader nationalist politics. He and his allies have no time for lectures from foreign elites and nothing but scorn for the indigenous Amazonian communities and leftist environmental policies that they see as obstacles to economic growth. The surge in deforestation has provoked a diplomatic spat between Brazil and European countries and now may halt a free-trade deal between the European Union and South American trading bloc Mercosur. The putative pact requires a commitment to the Paris climate accord, which among other things calls for an end to illegal deforestation in the Amazon by 2030. But Bolsonaro may be tempted to take Trump’s path instead and pull Brazil out of the Paris agreement, which would mark a significant blow for global efforts around climate action. “Brazil has a responsibility not only to its own citizens but also to the entire earth,” wrote American climate campaigner Bill McKibben. “Bolsonaro’s tantrums, like Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris accords, damages not just his own nation for a few years; it also imperils the entire earth for millennia to come.” But such an appeal won’t move Bolsonaro. “This seems to be at the heart of a lot of what the president believes. It’s not just about climate change ― it’s also about globalism, sovereignty and economic development,” Oliver Stuenkel, an international relations professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in São Paulo, told HuffPost. “For the president, it’s, if you believe in [climate change], it’s a conspiracy meant to keep Brazil from developing. … And he knows this causes agony and outrage among his international opposition.” Nationalists like Trump and Bolsonaro probably see the cause of climate action as a political dead end for their base. On the other side of the Atlantic, their right-wing counterparts in Europe are a bit more attuned to the scientific reality of the threat but still exhibit deep contempt for some activists seeking to drive greater awareness. In the United States, climate change is a fully partisan issue, largely thanks to the Republican Party’s wholesale embrace of the fossil fuel industry — the American analog to Brazil’s agribusiness lobby. But concern is widespread on the left and a key subject of debate ahead of the 2020 election. On Thursday, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders unveiled a $16.3 trillion Green New Deal platform, possibly the most radical proposal put forward so far by a candidate that would create some 20 million new jobs while dramatically restructuring American society and economy around a supposedly more sustainable future. “We need a president who has the courage, the vision, and the record to face down the greed of fossil fuel executives and the billionaire class who stand in the way of climate action,” the plan’s call to action declares, taking aim at Trump and his allies. “We need a president who welcomes their hatred.” • McCoy, The Post’s Brazil bureau chief, also wrote the text for a stunning photo essay that explains why the Amazon is burning. What’s most worrying “isn’t what’s happening now,” he notes. “It’s what will happen next. Researchers already say that they’ve seen more fires this year than ever before – and the driest party of the year is still ahead.” • Europe will see a third major heat wave of the summer starting this weekend. The sweltering conditions are set to arrive in Germany on Sunday, when Frankfurt could hit the upper 80s. Then they will be within a degree or two of 90 on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday — “pretty impressive considering their average high this time of year is just 71 degrees,” my colleagues note. • The Post’s White House bureau chief, Phil Rucker, examines how Trump has thrust Israel into an American culture war, fueled, in part, by the president’s frustration with his unpopularity with Jewish voters. Trump’s rhetoric about Jews magnifies his transactional approach to politics and his miscalculation that his support for Israel should automatically translate into electoral support from Jewish Americans. • At the same time, as my colleague Julie Zauzmer explores, the Trumpian discourse on Israel is exposing another reality: The prevalence of many Trump-supporting, evangelical Christian voters whose support for Israel and its right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not dented their deeply anti-Semitic views. • French President Emmanuel Macron hosted British Prime Minister Boris Johnson ahead of the G7 meetings. The two had less than fruitful discussions around Brexit: Macron made clear that Johnson’s opposition to the “Irish backstop,” which prevents a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, was unacceptable. French officials indicated they now believe Britain is likely to crash out of the E.U. without a withdrawal deal in place by the end of October. • The Syrian military recaptured a strategic town held by rebels for the past five years. The seizure of Khan Sheikhoun is the latest victory in President Bashar al-Assad’s bid to stamp out the long rebellion. Some 76,000 civilians have been forced to flee their homes just this week in the face of the regime’s offensive. South Korean protesters react as they hear the news that Seoul has scrapped its intelligence-sharing agreement with Tokyo. The signs they are holding called for the deal to be abolished. (Lee Jin-Man/Associated Press) Not so smart Last year, the South Korean Supreme Court ordered Japanese companies to pay compensation to victims of forced labor during Japan’s occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945. The judgements infuriated Japan’s government, which had given South Korea an economic aid package to settle the historical grievances when the countries restored diplomatic relations in 1965. The lingering dispute has escalated into recent tit-for-tat trade measures fueled by nationalist sentiment in both countries with moves that have affected South Korea’s electronics industry, Japan’s consumer goods and more. Things continued to heat up Thursday when South Korea scrapped an agreement to share military intelligence with Japan, significantly escalating the stakes in the U.S. allies’ dispute over trade and historical grievances. The decision is sure to be met with concern in the United States, which views intelligence sharing between the allies regarding North Korea as critical. The pact, known as the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), was signed in 2016 in the face of a growing threat from North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. South Korea’s decision comes just a day after the foreign ministers of both countries met at a trilateral event in China, where they agreed to keep talking but did not announce any progress in the dispute. The United States also urged the two allies to settle their differences, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stressing their “incredibly important” cooperation on North Korea. But some critics say the Trump administration should have acted sooner and more forcefully to defuse the row. The forces at work may not be so concerned with what the United States thinks. The GSOMIA was signed by a conservative South Korean government, which traditionally puts more value on the alliance with the United States and takes a more tolerant attitude toward Japan than liberal or left-wing governments, such as that of South Korean President Moon Jae-in.  Either way the biggest losers may be the South Koreans if the decision damages the U.S.-Korea alliance. And the biggest winner is likely North Korea. “With Pyongyang bolstering its military capability through repeated weapons tests, intelligence sharing is more important than ever to counter nuclear threats from North Korea,” said Lee Ho-ryung, a researcher at the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in Seoul. — Simon Denyer and Min Joo Kim As President Trump's hopes of buying Greenland continue to dominate the news cycle, a piece in The Post notes the United States should capitalize on the arctic territory it already owns. Speaking of Trump, a column in Americas Quarterly argues his strategy in Venezuela is more damaging than helpful, and one in The Post examines Trump's history of anti-Semitic comments. Meanwhile, an op-ed in Politico urges Italy's politicians to unite against the League's far-right leader Matteo Salvini.  We already have a Greenland. It’s called Alaska. Wouldn’t it be better to wisely and sustainably invest in the American Arctic? Heather A. Conley | The Washington Post Read more » Four signs Trump’s Venezuela strategy is backfiring The humanitarian toll of U.S. sanctions is mounting, and Guaidó's association with Trump has become his greatest liability. Oliver Stuenkel | Americas Quarterly Read more » A no-Salvini alliance is Italy’s best hope Tie-up between the 5Stars and Democratic Party would help avoid a damaging budget fight with Brussels. Silvia Merler | Politico Read more » Trump keeps pushing anti-Semitic stereotypes. But he thinks he’s praising Jews. Philo-Semitism seems benevolent, but it can easily spur hatred of Jews. Yair Rosenberg | The Washington Post Read more » Following a week of reflection on the country's history of slavery and racism, the New Yorker has a somewhat light-hearted piece on the 1929 debate where African-American leader W.E.B. Du Bois caused the group to roar with laughter at a once prominent and now hardly known white supremacist. Elsewhere, The Post reports on how animal welfare protection under Trump has declined, and a Massachusetts city will hear from a Jewish woman who spied on the Nazis during World War II.  When W. E. B. Du Bois made a laughingstock of a white supremacist Why the Jim Crow-era debate between the African-American leader and a ridiculous, Nazi-loving racist isn’t as famous as Lincoln-Douglas. Ian Frazier | The New Yorker Read more » Caged raccoons drooled in 100-degree heat. But federal enforcement has faded. Amid Trump’s push to deregulate, changes at the USDA now emphasize treating animal businesses and labs as partners. Karin Brulliard and William Wan | The Washington Post Read more » Jewish woman to tell stories of spying on Nazis Had Marthe Cohn been captured, she surely would have been executed, and probably in a torturous way.