Environment Minister won, for the time being, arm wrestling with Petrobras, but lost power with MP from the Ministries
The Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva, resisted in office after a turbulent week: she faced an arm wrestling with Petrobras and saw the emptying of her ministry in the National Congress. On Friday (May 26, 2023), she met with the president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) and other ministers, who left the meeting stating that they will work to reverse the changes made in the MP (provisional measure) of the Esplanada.
Per “Worrying inconsistencies”, Ibama rejected on May 17 an environmental license to the state-owned company to carry out drilling tests on the Equatorial Margin. Located 179 km from the coast of Amapá and 500 km from the mouth of the Amazon River, the region is one of the main focuses of the exploratory campaign in the company’s 2023-2027 Strategic Plan.
The decision was criticized by prominent Amapá politicians, such as the president of the CCJ (Constitution and Justice Commission) of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP), and the leader of the Government in Congress, Randolph Rodrigues (no party-AP).
Senator Randolfe Rodrigues left the Network, the party founded by Marina, on Thursday (18.May.2023), one day after the ban on oil exploration on the equatorial margin.
On May 23, Marina Silva won one of the rounds of the imbroglio between the Ibama (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) and the Petrobras after meeting with both.
The meeting was mediated by the Minister of the Civil House, Rui Costato try to reach an agreement between the government’s environmental wing and the wing that defends the drilling that the state-owned company wants to carry out as a test in the Brazilian Equatorial Margin, a region that encompasses the mouth of the Amazon River.
According to the minister, it was decided at the meeting that Ibama’s decision would be upheld and that the environmental institute would follow legal norms that require a strategic environmental assessment to be carried out for licensing requests for new oil exploration areas or very complex projects.
Two days later, the Petrobras submitted a new license application to Ibama to drill an oil well in the Foz do Amazonas basin. The environmental institute had denied the license on May 17. The letter was sent to the president of Ibama, Rodrigo Agostinho. Here’s the full (303 KB).
setback in Congress
The MP report that reorganizes the structure of the government removes powers from the Ministry of the Environment. If the opinion of the deputy Isnaldo Bulhões (MDB-AL) prevails in the Senate, the portfolio will lose strategic areas within the government. Here’s the full of the document (914 KB).
The text removes from the Environment the A-N-A (National Water and Basic Sanitation Agency), which passes to the Ministry of Integration and Regional Development, commanded by Waldez Goes. The minister is affiliated with the PDT, but was appointed to the position under the influence of União Brasil.
After the defeat in the mixed commission, Lula called a meeting on Friday (May 26) with Marina and other ministers whose prerogatives were overturned by deputies and senators.
With the meeting, another victory for Marina. The Minister of Civil Affairs, Rui Costasaid the government will work to reverse the changes made to the provisional measure for the restructuring of the Esplanada dos Ministérios.
According to him, the changes in relation to what was sent by the government are the minority of the project and will be the focus of the Planalto to revert in the next stages of processing. The next step is the House plenary.
According to the Minister of Institutional Relations, Alexandre Padilha, however, even with changes, the government will have the strength and conditions to put its political plan into practice, with sustainability at the focus of public policies.
“These are important points, they are relevant points, which we will continue to discuss with the National Congress. Even with these changes, they do not prevent the implementation of President Lula’s government program and his action, which places environmental sustainability at the center of the economic development agenda”said Padilla.
Despite having survived that week, Marina’s challenges at the Ministry of the Environment are not yet close to being over. The chances of the government succeeding in fully reversing the decisions of congressmen are not very high, since the main priority is that the MP does not lose its validity.
The opinion must be approved by the Senate. Among other points, the text transfers the competence to demarcate indigenous lands from the portfolio commanded by Guajajara to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. For the minister, the change is a “emptying of the main agenda of the ministry”.
#Marina #resists #turbulent #week #defeats #Congress