São Paulo’s Car Emissions Inspection Regime Unconstitutional?
Sunday, June 14th, 2009Stuck in a hotel lobby in the City of São Paulo, waiting since dawn to be allowed to check in my room, I have been catching up on my reading on Latin America environment, health and consumer affairs, in both electronic and print formats. One of the electronic tidbits I found involves this very city: […]
No More Imported Used Vehicles for Peru After 2010
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009Peru’s Environment Minister wants everyone to be clear: as of 2011, no more used vehicles will be imported through the Tacna Free Zone (ZofraTacna). Dr. Antonio Brack Egg says that starting in 2011 there will be no more importation of used vehicles in order to cut down on vehicle and air pollution, because Peru’s vehicle […]
Vehicle Pollution in São Paulo Quadruples Risk of Death
Saturday, March 7th, 2009Vehicle emissions indirectly kill 20 people per day in the São Paulo metropolitan region, according to a study reported in the daily Folha de São Paulo done by the Air Pollution Laboratory of the University of São Paulo’s (USP) Faculty of Medicine (FM). The study was commissioned by the Brazilian Health Ministry (MS) and has […]
Trade in Used Cars in the Americas: Good for the Environment?
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009A recent working paper by two US economists looks at the environmental consequences of international trade in durable goods through data regarding trade in used cars between the United States and Mexico under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). [A tip of the hat to Rob over at Globalisation and the Environment for alerting […]
Brazilian Fuel Economy Labels for Cars
Sunday, December 28th, 2008Latin America, it seems, is becoming more interested in fuel economy. I wrote in an August post about Chile’s proposal for a fuel efficiency/greenhouse gas emission label for cars, and more recently about Mexico’s new government website for consumers to use in shopping for fuel-efficient vehicles. Now it’s Brazil’s turn. In November its National Institute […]
Minas Moves to Improve Air Quality
Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008Synopsis in English: The State Environment Foundation (FEAM) of Minas Gerais (MG) is upgrading its monitoring of air quality in this key Brazilian state. All its automated measurements will be conducted around the clock 365 days a year, with results accessible via the internet soon to be more frequent than daily. This includes new monitoring […]
Eco-Shopping for Cars in Mexico
Sunday, November 23rd, 2008Recently Mexico launched an initiative to promote consumer purchases of vehicles with better fuel efficiency and lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that is, as far as I can tell, unique to Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The Environment Secretariat (SEMARNAT), via the National Ecology Institute (INE), the Office of the Federal Consumer Prosecutor (Profeco) […]
CO2 Emission Labels for Vehicles
Sunday, August 3rd, 2008Chile may become the first Latin American or Caribbean (LAC) nation to require cars to bear labels about their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Several European nations already require such labeling, and a regulatory agency recently proposed a unique GHG emission label for cars sold in California. The lower house of Chile’s legislature, the Chamber of […]
Dia Sin Auto en Chile
Thursday, September 27th, 2007Last weekend (22 Sept.) it was World Carfree Day, celebrated mainly in Latin America in Brazil, Quito, Ecuador and San Luis Potosí, Mexico. By all accounts it was a success in Brazil — for details in Portuguese (including some nice photos) on what happened in the various cities there, check with the Rua Viva blog. […]
Dia Sem Carro
Friday, September 21st, 2007Tomorrow, Saturday 22 September, is World Carfree Day. The annual event begun in France in 1998 and now worldwide, is intended as a day when everyone leaves their car at home and utilizes public transport, walks or rides a bicycle. The resulting quiet, lack of traffic congestion and cleaner air is intended to make people […]
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