LA Councilmen Propose Boycotting Businesses That Contribute To Amazon Rainforest Deforestation

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Two Los Angeles City Councilmen are asking the city to stop conducting business with companies who contribute to the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.

Amazon rainforest fire — View of fire from the BR163 highway, near Itaituba, Para state, Brazil, in the Amazon rainforest, on Sept. 10, 2019. The BR230 and BR163 are major transport routes in Brazil that have played a key role in the development and destruction of the world's largest rainforest, now being ravaged by fires. (NELSON ALMEIDA/AFP via Getty Images)

Councilmembers Paul Koretz and David Ryu put forth a motion Nov. 15 which calls on city agencies to "eliminate the purchase of any product derived from the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest."

An uptick in meat demand has spurred South American cattle ranchers to clear more of the Amazon for grazing and feed crops, Koretz office said.

Forest fires throughout the Amazon have jumped 80 percent jump since last year, putting resources and lives at risk. The Brazilian National Institute for Space Research recorded over 41,000 fires throughout the country as a result of this clearing.

The motion will ask city departments to examine ways to eliminate the purchase of products, contracting with or investing in firms that engage in the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest or the murder of the Indigenous people who live there.

Similar legislation was also introduced last week by New York City Councilmembers.

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