Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday recommended that people should eat less food and “poop every other day” to preserve a healthy environment.
“It’s enough to eat a little less. You talk about environmental pollution. It’s enough to poop every other day. That will be better for the whole world,” Bolsonaro said.
Bolsonaro has been criticized lately for reports that deforestation has accelerated quickly in the Amazon rainforest, which the Brazilian leader has referred to as “lies.”
Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research announced that 2,254 square kilometers of the Amazon were eliminated in July, marking a 278% increase from the same period one year ago. The INPE also reported a 90% increase in deforestation in June from the same month last year.
The dismal numbers led Bolsonaro to relieve INPE head Ricardo Galvao from his post on Aug. 2.
Environmental activists note that the Amazon rainforest is crucial for combating global warming, with trees absorbing as much as 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide each day and releasing 20% of Earth’s oxygen.
Bolsonaro, a far-right politician and climate change skeptic who has claimed it to be a Marxist plot, accused the INPE of influencing the deforestation data to make his administration appear negligent.
Environment Minister Ricardo Salles said the data was distributed with the intent of appeasing “sensationalist interpretations” to obtain “more donations from foreign NGOs.”
The agency also published data showing that deforestation in Brazil increased 40% over the last 12 months compared with the same period last year.
