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Loading ...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: […]
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 […]
Finding Eco-Diagnoses for LAC
Friday, June 20th, 2008In a prior post on the Temas library of Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) legal texts for download, I promised to highlight other changes and additions to the updated site. The biggest addition to the site has been the Temas Tools Section, a collection of references and tools that help in understanding, shaping and managing […]
Colombia Seeking Clinton Help in Negotiating Diesel Imports
Tuesday, July 31st, 2007Synopsis in English: Colombia’s Environment Minister, Juan Lozano Ramírez, has announced that he has requested Clinton Foundation help in negotiating terms for the importation of high-quality diesel. Lozano considers getting as much best-quality diesel (low sulphur) at the best possible price as soon as possible a key to improving air quality in the national capital, […]
A Deal to Improve Bogotá’s Air
Thursday, July 26th, 2007Synopsis in English: The Environment Ministry and the City of Bogotá signed an agreement aimed at improving air quality in the nation’s capital. Under the accord the two will collaborate to (1) design an Air Quality Information System (SISAIRE); (2) characterize (identify types, levels, concentrations, sources, etc.) of airborne particulate matter in the city; (3) […]
Announcing the Temas Reading List
Friday, May 11th, 2007Foreword From time to time here on The Temas Blog, I have referred to books, studies, etc. having been added to the Temas Recommended Reading List. Perhaps a few of you even sought out the link for this list in the “Temas Tools” section on the righthand column, or even went looking on the main […]
Serra’s 21 Strategic Environmental Projects for São Paulo
Monday, April 9th, 2007On 02 April the new Governor of São Paulo, José Serra [Brazilian Social Democratic Party (Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira – PSDB)], announced a series of 21 “strategic environmental projects” he said will guide his Administration and help one of Latin America’s biggest economies — and still the industrial and agricultural powerhouse of Brazil (accounting […]
An Environmental Agenda for the Andes
Wednesday, January 24th, 2007Another piece I started long ago (at the end of Sept.) and left in the queue. I’ll clear the backlog yet! This is one is not over-ripe, though, because the Andean Community is only now implementing the Agenda. The Lima-based General Secretariat of the four-nation Andean Community* (Comunidad Andina – CAN) has released the Community’s […]
Will Lima Breathe Easier?
Saturday, October 14th, 2006Lima Is Not for Asthmatics A recent post in Ecoperu warned that walking through Lima’s city center could prove hazardous to your health due to contaminants in the air that exceed international standards. I was a bit taken aback by this statement. It’s been over three years since I last walked Lima’s center, so maybe […]
WHO to Policymakers: Clear the Air
Thursday, October 12th, 2006Last week the World Health Organization (WHO) challenged governments worldwide: save millions of lives by tightening your air quality standards. WHO issued the challenge while releasing the first major overhaul of its widely-observed Air Quality Guidelines (AQGs) since 1997. WHO first released AQGs in 1987 in response to requests from governments for some guidance on […]