A Letter in Defense of the Amazon and Her People

The Indigenous Peoples of the Brazilian Amazon are in urgent need of our help and support to protect this precious forest! Whether you believe in politics or not, the fact of the matter is that politicians believe in politics, and the nature of their position is that they're able to take international action. Please take a few minutes out of your day to let our elected officials know that you expect them to take action in support of the defenders of the forest. I, and a wonderful free service called Resistbot, have done our best to make it as easy as possible for you to do this. All you have to do is:

1. From iMessage or Telegram, text RESIST to 50409 and follow the directions to input your information (don't worry, they aren't going to spam you or do anything shady, it's a local nonprofit that really is trying to make this process very easy for everyone). The bot uses the information that you input to figure out who your elected officials are, and to insert your name, address, and district into any letters it generates and sends on your behalf.

2. After putting in your information, text FEDERAL to 50409. Resistbot will generate letters to your Congresspeople and to the President on your behalf.

3. Copy-paste the text below into your chat with Resistbot. You'll need to break up your text into 3 chunks - I have used double-spacing between paragraphs to indicate the beginning and end of each of the 3 chunks to make this really easy.

4. After you've copy-pasted, text DONE to Resistbot. It will show you a preview of your letter, give you a chance to add a subject line, and then it will take care of sending the letter to all relevant parties.

5. Share this page with everyone you know and encourage them to take this and any other action that they can.

I am asking you to take urgent and immediate action to protect the Amazon. The accelerating destruction of the world’s largest rainforest poses a significant threat to climate mitigation efforts.

With the introduction of Bill PL490, the Bolsonaro government is taking bold steps to open up the protected indigenous lands and reserves to commercial agriculture and mining. The opening of these lands and the displacement of the indigenous peoples will result in an unprecedented environmental crisis – the complete devastation of an ecosystem that is necessary for the survival of all humanity.

The preservation of indigenous reserves in the Amazon is crucial to our fight against climate change. The indigenous people of Brazil are responsible for conserving and stewarding what remains of the Amazon forest. The United States needs to stand beside and behind the Amazonian indigenous.

Our government should provide direct aid to the indigenous people of Brazil by providing funds and resources to APIB.

Our government should engage directly with the governors of the nine states that encompass the Brazilian Amazon. The Biden administration should offer aid directly to their states.

Our government must encourage the Bolsonaro administration to stop using their professed commitment to economic development as a pretext for de facto encouragement of illegal deforestation, violence, and impunity.

Funding and support from the US and our allies should be conditioned upon results. Continued aid should be conditioned upon federal and state authorities achieving significant reductions in rates of deforestation and impunity for environmental crimes and violence against forest defenders.

The United States should communicate to President Bolsonaro that the ability of Brazil’s government to respect the human rights of the indigenous people and to achieve substantial reductions in rates of deforestation and impunity will be key to securing US support for Brazil’s accession to the OECD.

The United States should act to limit its own contribution to forest destruction around the world by limiting US consumption of commodities linked to deforestation. While US imports of illegally-harvested timber are prohibited under the Lacey Act, there are currently no such restrictions for commodities that are often produced on illegally deforested land or from suppliers implicated in human rights violations—such as beef, palm oil, soy, and cocoa. Our government needs to establish such restrictions and rigorously enforce the Lacey Act. Our government must also stop awarding contracts to JBS and other companies known for sourcing their products from deforested lands in the Amazon.

The US can and should play a critical role in pressing the Brazil’s leadership to ensure that the many Brazilians committed to preserving the Amazon have the resources, protection, and support they need to succeed. As your constituent, I am asking you to ensure that the we step into this role immediately.