Miriam's point

Stressing what I said the other day about the deforestation in Brazil being totally useless. Today Miriam Leitão, the Brazilian journalist/columnist has published in the Washington post blog an article (http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/miriam_leitao/2007/12/emissions_dont_equal_developme.html) about the Bali conference/CO2 emissions and all that's crumpled in that issue. She said a very quotable phrase: "There is no such thing as conflict between curbing emissions and economic development. In Brazil, there is a perfect match of these two agendas." She also mentioned a study produced by Imazon, an NGO that states that there is a vicious cycle in the deforestation process: "in the beginning of the deforestation process, communities face a short period of economic affluence, but after a few years, economic and social indicators become markedly worse. Incomes grow together with violence. The end result is the return to poverty." Brazilian emissions have absolutely no use in the development of the country. Moreover, the potential cosmetics, drugs and other kids of products that could be derived from the forest – whose possibilities are waning by the minute –, that is, products with high aggregate value, are being exchanged by soy and cattle.