The whirlwind of (policy geek) action that is starting a new job. In a new country.<\/p>\n
Moving to a new town takes some adjusting.\u00a0 Scouting the best taqueria, cheapest pizza, and nearest ATM are necessary to start one\u2019s new life.\u00a0 Starting a new job requires similar steps: figuring out your employer\u2019s goals and positions, strengths and weaknesses, expectations and limitations.\u00a0 Moving to a new country to tackle an internship?\u00a0 Well, that takes a whole lot of figuring out.<\/p>\n
Figuring Out The Internship<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Our employer, the Ministerio Publico (Public Ministry, or \u201cMPRJ\u201d) is a government agency unlike anything in the US.\u00a0 In Brasil, it is a group of lifetime-appointed public prosecutors responsible for filing civil and criminal charges on behalf of the environment, the poor, minorities, and consumers.\u00a0 Imagine if NRDC, the ACLU, and PIRG were made into a federal office, funded, and given free reign to sue to keep the government and businesses honest.\u00a0 That\u2019s who we work for.<\/p>\n Now, when you have the ability to send people to jail for crimes against the environment<\/a><\/em>, you tend to carry a lot of sway on issues of policy.\u00a0 My job here is to provide policy analysis for a rewrite of the state\u2019s Environmental Impact Reporting process, currently underway.\u00a0 Arriving here with only book-based knowledge of current Brasilian policy, I learned quickly that I had a lot of figuring out to do.\u00a0 Do it right, and I can effect positive change for the environment for 16 million people.\u00a0 Do it wrong, and I miss that chance.<\/p>\n And so the first weeks have been a lot of bumping around in the dark, trying to understand the limitations of changes that could be made.\u00a0 Addressing questions like \u201chow do we get the public to show up for a public hearing on a development\u201d and \u201chow do we define what an \u2018environmental impact\u2019 is?\u201d have filled my days, and short policy briefs about \u201ccommunity resource management\u201d and \u201csignificance thresholds\u201d have filled my harddrive. \u00a0While not as exciting as off-roading through the brush with a tribal elder<\/a><\/em>, someone has to do the wonky stuff, and sometimes the wonky stuff makes all the difference.\u00a0 At least I get to eat a lot of Brasilian steak while I\u2019m here.<\/p>\n Now that the job is figured out, the work is flying.\u00a0 Our first \u201cdecree,\u201d which answers the question \u201cWhen do we need to do an Environmental Impact Report\u201d is being finished. \u00a0Our top recommendation? \u00a0Shifting from a size-of-project based preliminary analysis to a preliminary analysis that takes into account the sensitivity of the setting and the potential for significant damage. \u00a0Why? \u00a0So that small projects located in wetlands or in critical habitat get the hard look they deserve. \u00a0Next week, we are moving on to \u201cWhat needs to be in an Environmental Impact Report\u201d.\u00a0 The prognosis thus far: Rio de Janeiro will have a very robust EIR process.<\/p>\n Next episode is the far more entertaining and far more embarrassing story of figuring out the city, the local life, and the unavoidable double-kiss-on-the-cheek-greeting.\u00a0 Stay tuned!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"