I see parallels between American President Donald Trump’s designs on Greenland and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s deforestation and slow response to the wildfires in the Amazon rainforest.
Trump wants to melt what’s left of Greenland’s ice by pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere so he can convert what he sees as a vast wasteland into a massive, cash producing island, even though that’d put Mar-a-Lago underwater. Bolsonero has similar plans for the Amazon rainforest, even though that’d eliminate 12% of the earth’s oxygen and 5% of the earth-warming carbon dioxide the forest absorbs each year.
In fact, Brazil may join the dwindling group of American allies, which now includes only Russia and North Korea. Trump and Bolsonaro have a great deal in common. They’re both misogynistic, racist, materialistic, admiring of dictators, and disdainful of democracy. They could become the Axis powers of the Americas if they can stay in authority long enough and the planet survives their assault.
Fred Malo Jr.
Carbondale