Share this page!

David Luhnow Profile picture
Twitter logo
28 Oct, 5 tweets, 2 min read
Short thread: Do you care about what's happening to the Amazon? Then read this story about how Amata SA tried to make a business of sustainably harvesting hardwoods - cutting down only one tree per acre so the forest could regrow. wsj.com/articles/brazi… via @WSJ
The Brazilian gov't believes that legal logging is the best way to save the forest from illegal loggers, who clear cut everything. In that sense, they are right. More legal logging will provide jobs and help keep trees that help ecosystem and suck up carbon.
But there is a catch: legal logging faces unfair competition from illegal logging, which is far cheaper and can undercut their prices in the open market. Why? They don't pay taxes and they don't care about preservation, so they clear cut on the cheap.
So how does a company like Amata survive unfair competition from illegal logging? It can't, unless the Brazilian gov't takes seriously its vow to stop the illegal loggers.
Sadly, as this very nice piece from @ptrevisani and @WSJForero shows, the Bolsonaro gov't has done little to curb illegal logging, slashing budget for forest protection. Wildcat loggers LOVE Bolsonaro. The upshot: Amata pulled out of its concession, saying it can't compete. Sad.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with David Luhnow

David Luhnow Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @davidluhnow

David Luhnow Profile picture
15 Sep
Mexico's president was elected for one very good reason: His promise to end a culture of corruption that has long held Mexico back. But two years in, it increasingly looks like he's unwilling or unable to deliver. wsj.com/articles/mexic… via @WSJ
We have a pretty solid body of evidence building up: He has steadfastly ignored the institutional solutions to corruption. Rather than name a strong, independent anti-corruption prosecutor, he named a party hack. Funding cut for transparency agency and elsewhere.
Mexicans self-report that they are being asked more often for bribes. The government is resorting increasingly to directly assigned projects rather than public bidding. Government agencies are increasingly denying requests for transparency.
Read 6 tweets
David Luhnow Profile picture
5 Sep
Short thread about this story below. We heard from a radio report this week that Mexico was running out of death certificates due to Covid (and a bureaucratic screw up). wsj.com/articles/coron…
We confirmed the story. Then we called the Health Ministry and the coronavirus czar @HLGatell for comment on Thursday morning. They said they were working on it, and would get back to us.
We waited to publish until we heard back. Important for us to hear their side of the story. Then, on Friday evening, @HLGatell talks about the issue at his news conference, essentially scooping us and spinning the issue how he wants.
Read 5 tweets
David Luhnow Profile picture
25 Jun
HILO: Muchos en México han escuchado del brote de Covid en La Central de Abasto, el mercado mas grande de America Latina. Pero lo que tal vez no han escuchado es que, en muchos sentidos, es una historia de éxito. Aquí les va el porque... wsj.com/articles/mexic… via @WSJ
En tiempos de pandemia, el mercado podría ser una pesadilla y convertirse en una catástrofe humanitaria. En días pico llegan hasta medio millón de visitantes y se dispersan por todo el Pais, potencialmente dispersando el virus por toda la parte central del país.
Y eso empezó a suceder a finales de Abril. Pero la ciudad y el mercado, trabajando con expertos en epidemiología, intervinieron. La receta: pruebas, aislamiento de positivos, y rastreo de contactos. La prueba es gratis y el resultado en dos días (vs 7 días a nivel federal).
Read 8 tweets
David Luhnow Profile picture
3 Jun
Quisiera compartir algo personal. Y disculpas por adelantado. Mi trabajo (y pasión) consiste en cubrir América Latina para el WSJ. A veces hay gente que responde a nuestras notas duras o comentarios críticos por Twitter diciendo algo como, “¿Por qué no te preocupas por tu país?”
Nunca respondo, porque sé que la gran mayoría de la gente que lee un diario como el WSJ son cosmopolitas y quieren una perspectiva desde afuera de su país o región - una perspectiva idealmente independiente. No siempre lo logramos, pero hacemos un esfuerzo.
También admito que siento que tengo el derecho de a veces criticar esta región porque también es mía - yo nací y crecí en México. Y aunque me vea 100% gringo, parte de mi alma y carácter también es latino, a pesar de mis faltas de gramática que me apenan. Adoro esta región.
Read 10 tweets
David Luhnow Profile picture
8 May
HILO: Hay mas muertes por Covid de los que dice el gobierno Mexicano? Casi seguro que si. Hoy salieron dos notas importantes sobre el tema en la prensa internacional.
@jmontesWSJ reviso 105 actas de defunción en varios registros civiles de la CDMX. Encontró esto: Solo cuatro personas habían muerto oficialmente por Covid, porque se sometieron a prueba. Pero 52 murieron sospechosos de la enfermedad.
A esos no les hicieron prueba, entonces no entran al conteo oficial. Aunque la muestra nuestra es pequeña, sugiere que para cada caso oficial de muerte a Covid, puede haber muchos, muchos más que no están entrando en la cifra oficial - una cifra negra brutal.
Read 6 tweets
David Luhnow Profile picture
8 May
THREAD: Because Mexico takes a year (!) to publish mortality data, @jmontesWSJ pored over death certificates in Mexico City to see if Mexico was undercounting Covid deaths. The short answer: yes. wsj.com/articles/death… via @WSJ
He obtained 105 death certificates filed over two days. Only four had Covid as the official cause of death. 52 more had "suspected Covid" or similar written next to official cause acute respiratory infection. But those aren't counted as official deaths by the gov't.
It's a small sample size, yes, but it suggests that for every official case of Covid death in Mexico, there could be many, many more unaccounted for. Mexico does very little testing, and is missing testing even of some who die. Hard to gauge real extent of pandemic.
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get email notifications when new thread is out from this Author!

Check out other threads from this Author!

Read all threads by @davidluhnow