Kimberly Dudeck

Comprehensive Reading Review

Chapter 10: Oil, Farming and the Amazon
Vargas established the oil company, Petrobras, in 1954. The company began
drilling offshore in the 1960s, where it soon became the worlds most knowledgeable
oil company about deep-sea operations (195). As a result of the offshore drilling,
Brazils proven reserves of oil doubled in the decade to 2002, while oil output more than
doubled between 1996 and 2005 (when it reached 1.7 million barrels per day) (195). In
2007, Petrobras discovered a new oil field underneath a thick salt bed in the South
Atlantic. While employed by Lula as his chief of staff, Dilma Rousseff was also a
member of the Petrobras council. She drew up new contracts regarding the newfound oil
reserves, and proposed a production-sharing agreement between Petrobras and a recently
founded state company, known as Pr-Sal Petrleo SA (PPSA). I respect Dilmas decision
to use the revenues produced by PPSA for the education and health care of Brazil.
Petrobras declared the company would be among the worlds top five oil majors by
2020, with a total output of 6.4 million barrels per day, of which 4.9 million would be in
Brazil (197). It was soon becoming evident that Petrobras had overextended their
estimated production rates. The company soon struggled to stay afloat and was forced to
declare its first quarterly loss since 1999.
Brazil has become the worlds third-largest exporter of agricultural products, with
coffee, sugar, orange juice, beef, and poultry being their number one sellers in 2009.
Overall, Brazils share of world agricultural exports climbed from 2.4 percent in 1990 to
5.2 percent in 2011 (199). The clearing of the cerrado allowed space for more farming

practices; but unfortunately, the soils were too acidic for any crops to survive. Following
the green revolution of 1973, the cerrado was treated with lime, which allowed for new
varieties of crops to be planted in the enriched soils. Interestingly, the cerrado now
accounts for 70 percent of Brazils grain harvest (201). Today, biofuels, which are
derived from sugar in this case, are a very important energy source for the citizens of
Brazil. The sugar-based ethanol is environmentally friendly and can be used to fuel cars.
Engineers have developed a technology that allows the biofuels to be used in fuel-flex
engines, which are capable of either running on petrol or ethanol, or a mixture of the
two (202). By 2012, fuel-flex engines were installed in the majority of cars
manufactured in Brazil. Sugar can also be used as a raw material in the production of bioplastics, a greener alternative to petrochemicals (203). Over the past few years, Brazil
has become very innovative and even a world leader in some branches of biotechnology
and genetic sciences (203). I am highly impressed by the extent of the advancements
they have been able to make.
The Amazon rainforest is a mysterious place to foreigners. Many parts of the
forest are still inhabited today by caboclos, the descendants of Native American tribes.
The Amazon has three main enemies: cattle ranchers, loggers, and migrant settlers. The
ranchers chose to destroy the forest with clear-cutting and burning techniques, the loggers
damaged more trees than they felled, and the settlers practiced slash-and-burn farming in
order to clear their land. Between 1960 and 2000, the population of the Amazon
expanded tenfold, to 20 million, and approximately 18 percent of the original forest has
been destroyed (208). Not only is the Amazon the largest rainforest in the world, but it is
also believed that it holds the most species diversity than any other location. As a result

of the negative effects brought on by deforestation, the federal government has declared a
large percentage of the Amazon to be considered a protected area, in one way or another.
In association with the new laws regarding privatization, if there are any suspicions about
public land being sold off, the federal environmental agency has been granted the power
to levy fines, confiscate equipment, and blacklist farmers (209), as a result. In
appreciation of all of the efforts made to protect the Amazon rainforest, the rate of
deforestation has significantly decreased. Today, the majority of people are aware of the
consequences that may arise from destroying something so beneficial to the world, such
as the Amazon. Although I still believe that people should continue to be educated about
the matter so we can further reduce the effects of climate change.