Brazilian and Venezuelan authorities say the smuggling racket began early in the decade, when oil prices began their climb to record levels. But the price gap between Venezuela and its much larger southern neighbor has been widened by the radically different energy policies the two countries have adopted. Full Story »
Posted by Autumn Carlson
Brazil deserves credit for at least trying to become independent of foreign oil and reduce emissions at the same time. The story also demonstrates that when gasoline is cheap, people lose interest in getting away from it. In that regard, the Brazilian president is smart to wean his people.
Good reporting. But Brazil's ethanol program is not really innovative - it was already up and running in the 80s, then declined. The social and ecological cost was high; that didn't weaken the program, but falling gas prices did - Brazilian drivers went back to buying gas-powered cars. I would have liked to learn WHY Lula is not doing the easy populist thing of reducing gas prices. The conflict between miners and Indians, who have been dying from infections brought in by these miners since decades, deserves more than this passing mention.
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