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Thomas Paine

To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.

Friday, April 16, 2010

16 Apr - Afternoon News Picks


Democracy Now!


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Author Nikolas Kozloff on “No Rain in the Amazon: How South America’s Climate Change Affects the Entire Planet”


JUAN GONZALEZ: Environmentalists and indigenous communities along the Amazon celebrated an important victory Thursday after a Brazilian judge suspended bidding on the construction of what is slated to be the largest dam in the world. The decision came shortly afterAvatar director and Hollywood icon James Cameron made a brief visit to the area threatened by the huge Belo Monte Dam and wrote a letter to Brazilian President Lula da Silva, urging him to consider the ecological and human costs of the project. 
The homes and livelihoods of some 40,000 people are threatened by the dam. But supporters of the project, including the President of Brazil, say it is essential to meet the skyrocketing electricity demands of Brazil’s population. In a recent speech in São Paulo, Lula said, quote, “No one worries more about taking care of the Amazon and our Indians than we do.”
AMY GOODMAN: Well, our next guest argues that protecting the rainforests of the Amazon from environmental damage is not just crucial for the populations that live in and around it, but a global necessity. Nikolas Kozloff writes, quote, “Acting as the planet’s air conditioner, the Amazon absorbs millions of tons of greenhouse gases that would otherwise end up in the atmosphere. Yet every year thousands of square miles of this rainforest are destroyed—thus unleashing a catastrophic bomb of stored carbon that only adds to the world’s deteriorating climate conditions.” 

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