After exhibiting leadership in reducing GHG emissions, political turmoil in Brazil has upended ambitious targets set under its Nationally Determined Commitment (NDC) to the Paris Agreement. Since 1988, the energy sector has undergone a transition from state control to a market-based framework. State control resulted in the extensive development of low-carbon sources of electricity and transportation fuels. Investment capital requirements led to the relaxation of government controls on the sector and multiple periods of reform. But the country continued to serve as a model for decarbonization and the preservation of the Amazon. However, as a result of a major scandal involving Petrobras, the state-controlled oil company, those efforts appear reversed. Without serious policy intervention, Brazil may very well not meet its commitments.