Amazon soy export plant shut down in win for environmentalists
Greens did a victory dance this weekend as Brazil forced U.S. agribiz giant Cargill to close a soy export terminal in the country's Amazon region. The facility has long been the focus of a targeted Greenpeace campaign protesting rapid deforestation of the tropical rainforest -- which lost about 6,500 square miles between 2005 and 2006 -- for growing soy, which is then used as cheap feed for future chicken nuggets, wings, and drumsticks. The terminal's closure, which the company plans to appeal, was the result of a court ruling that Cargill had failed to submit a required environmental impact assessment. Said chief prosecutor Felicio Pontes, "Cargill believed that because they were a powerful multinational, they could disrespect both Brazilian legislation and the environment." Though the distribution plant has been involved in a lengthy legal battle, often on the losing end, Friday's decision was the first to actually suspend work. Respect that, soy-suckas.
source: The Independent, Andrew Gumbel, 26 Mar 2007
source: The Guardian, Tom Phillips, 26 Mar 2007
source: Brazzil Magazine, 27 Mar 2007
straight to the Greenpeace report: Eating Up the Amazon
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Comments
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danielbarker123 Posted 7:49 am
28 Mar 2007
I have no children and plan on one child and adoption. How many children do you have?
If you want to save the planet, don't have children - one child is enough with adoption. There are plenty of poor children to go around.
We might have stopped them from the Amazon, but as long as we continue to eat too much meat some other forest will be destroyed to grow the soybean. So the battle isn't over until we stop funding the destroyers.
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