Oil-rich Venezuela's leader urges energy conservation

Oil-rich Venezuela's leader urges energy conservation
The Associated PressPublished: February 2, 2007

CARACAS, Venezuela: With the zeal of a die-hard environmentalist, President Hugo Chavez plans to invest some of Venezuela's oil wealth in manufacturing solar panels and has begun giving out millions of energy-saving fluorescent light bulbs in homes nationwide.

Though his country survives on oil sales, Chavez is increasingly talking up the environmental cause and urging the world to cut back on oil consumption to prevent climate change.

He says Venezuela can serve as an example, but that remains a lofty ideal for a country where car sales are booming and litter-strewn streets are clouded with exhaust.

Some critics say Chavez's rhetoric frequently goes beyond his actions. But he has been exhorting his followers to drive less and take public transport, while the government plans a windmill farm on the coast and is exploring more uses for clean-burning natural gas.
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http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/02/america/LA-GEN-Venezuela-Chavez-Goes-Green.php

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I hope the ((((((( SPIN ))))))) hasn't made you dizzy! The bolding is mine.

Litter-strewn streets? Clouded with exhaust? Sounds like my town!

I think the author may have been on a creative writing spree, or perhaps he/she was told to SPIN like a bastard.
Why would Venezuelan streets have MORE car exhaust than any other streets? Any guesses?

I doubt many Venezuelans have two, three or four cars per family as in this country. My daughter lived there for many years and never complained of streets clouded with exhaust. Must have happened since she left.

He knows the oil isn't going to last forever (a concept which supposedly-educated North American policymakers often seem to be baffled by). It would be a safe bet that Venezuelans, on average, use far less energy and emit far less pollution than we do. Big cities across the world, from Caracas to Chicago to Chiang Mai, have traffic issues and garbage/sewage/vehicle exhaust problems, but at least President Chavez is trying to do something about it, by helping alleviate poverty and health concerns.

he is trying to buy himself votes.

what a quaint idea. He should hire some repubs so he could learn to just steal the votes and not have to bother with the riff-raff.
Just to add, How many votes can you buy with fluorescent light bulbs?

Regardless of whether we're sitting on a bunch of oil or not.