Energy transition in dispute inside the Brazilian state: political-bureaucratic coalitions and oil exploration in Foz do Amazonas

Abstract

The paper outlines coalitions formed by political and bureaucratic actors who are publicly opposing each other, during the third Lula administration in Brazil, about the authorization or prohibition of oil exploration by Petrobras in the Foz do Amazonas basin. The divergence is interpreted based on the concepts of politicization of bureaucracy and bureaucratization of politics. The research method consists of content analysis of documents and public speeches by some selected actors, in order to point out the main justifications used to defend one or another position and verify how the notions of climate emergency and energy transition appear in discourses. The research concludes that the concept of energy transition is mobilized by actors from the two coalitions, but with different meanings and connected to distinct degrees of ambition to combat climate change. This situation implies a greater process of politicization of the energy policy within the Brazilian state, in which the defense of different social interests by political actors tries to mobilize specialized knowledge from distinct bureaucracies and more public legitimacy from society.