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« Previous Entries Next Entries »Update: Mapping Brazil’s Basins to Prepare Against Oil Spills
Tuesday, September 9th, 2008Over a year ago I had a post here about the efforts of Brazil’s Environment Ministry (MMA) to prepare comprehensive atlases of the Brazilian sedimentary basins where oil and gas exploration, drilling and related activities are permitted. [80% of Brazil’s oil and gas exploration/exploitation occurs offshore.] The atlas covering the very important Santos Basin was […]
Inspecting the World’s Largest Open Pit Coal Mine
Saturday, September 6th, 2008Recently Colombia’s Vice Minister for the Environment, Claudia Mora Pineda, the Ministry’s director of licenses and permits, and the head of the National Natural Parks Unit (UPNN) paid an “inspection” visit to El Cerrejón, Colombia’s largest coal mine and probably the largest open pit coal mine in the world. They also visited the mining firm’s […]
Minas Gets Tough on Environmental Enforcement
Thursday, August 28th, 2008Last year I blogged about how the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais was giving its environment inspectors the digital tools they need to make their jobs easier. Since then I have kept one eye on Minas and the inspectors of its State Environment System (Sisema), not only because of the changes in enforcement that they […]
Loan for Environmental Decontamination in Argentine Mining Sector
Friday, August 1st, 2008From the World Bank: World Bank Approves US$30 Million for Environmental Decontamination in Mining Sector The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved today a US$30 million loan to support an environmental program designed to assist the Government of Argentina, specifically the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA), to meet its legal obligations to remediate closed […]
Gas Flaring, LAC & Climate Change
Thursday, October 4th, 2007Take a look at the two images to the right. The first is of an offshore platform flaring gas. The second (click to enlarge) is a computer-enhanced satellite photo of gas flaring off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago. Yes, if you use the right technique, you now can document flaring from space. Why is […]
CVRD Chooses to Lead by Example
Tuesday, September 4th, 2007One of Brazil’s biggest home-grown multinationals and employers, the Doce River Valley Company (Companhia Vale do Rio Doce – CVRD) has decided to take its efforts on sustainable development and social responsibility to the next level: it is refusing to supply iron ore to clients that are not complying with Brazilian environmental and labor standards. […]
Aluminum Recycling Reconsidered
Wednesday, August 29th, 2007A Sixth Year as Aluminum Can Recycling Champion The Brazilian Aluminum Association (ABAL) recently announced that Brazil recycled 139,100 metric tons (Mt) of aluminum cans (about 10.3 billion cans) in 2006 for a recycling rate of 94.4%, assuring the first-place position for Brazil for the sixth year in a row, ahead of Argentina, Japan, Switzerland, […]
Gold Mining in Guyana (Re)visited
Wednesday, August 8th, 2007In an earlier post I examined a diagnosis of the environmental and health problems posed by current practice in small- and medium-scale gold mining in Guyana and the recommendations for addressing those problems and improving the policing of mining practices. Guyana’s official news service, GINA, reports that last week Cabinet members ventured out to see […]
The Mercury Threat Posed by Mining in Guyana
Monday, July 23rd, 2007Not long ago I discussed the various environmental and health challenges posed by gold mining in Guyana in the context of a Harvard study on the issue. Now comes word of a new study presented last week at workshop in Guyana co-sponsored by the Institute of Applied Science and Technology (IAST) and WWF on “Mercury […]
IDB: Camisea May Save Peru’s Rainforest
Tuesday, July 10th, 2007Well, I guess everyone should stop fretting. The IDB now says the Camisea natural gas project not only will not cause significant harm to Peru’s environment and isolated indigenous communities, but may actually be the catalyst for saving the Peruvian rainforest! Read all about it in the IDB’s magazine, IDBAmerica, and let me know if […]