Venezuela on Sept. 2 will try to cut lead emissions from cars and trucks by offering motorists just two kinds of gasoline to choose from—a leaded, 91-octane variety and an unleaded, 95-octane fuel. The move will boost the use of lead-free gasoline immediately—and eventually help eliminate leaded gasoline altogether as Venezuelans trade in older-model cars for new, unleaded-fuel models. “Of the total of 2.26 million gasoline-powered vehicles in Venezuela, some 9% currently use 87-octane gas with lead, 50% use leaded 91-octane, 29% leaded 95-octane, and 12% unleaded 95-octane,” says Orlando Pérez, a fuel-quality specialist with Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the state oil company. “With the change to two grades, we estimate use...
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President Vicente Fox has canceled his plans for a new airport on the lakebed of Texcoco, about 40 miles (64 kms) northeast of Mexico City, following months of violent protests by local farmers. Fox’s government failed to reach an agreement with the 4,000 farmers over the price of their land, despite raising the initial offer seven-fold. The farmers had protested angrily for several months, wielding machetes, taking hostages and blocking roads with barricades of burning automobiles. Environmentalists were outraged at the government’s selection of the new airport site when it was announced last October. They said it would destroy the Texcoco lakebed, a key part of Mexico City’s ailing water basin and home to 300,000 birds representing more than 150 species. (See “Mexico picks...
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Cash-strapped Nicaragua aims to become an oil republic on par with northern neighbor Guatemala. The government has begun the bidding process for oil and natural-gas exploration in the nation’s Caribbean, Pacific and southern regions. Announcing the decision last month, President Enrique Bolaños said opening the country to oil exploration would generate $300 million over a five-year period and help reduce Nicaragua’s dependence on fuel imports. But opposition is likely, particularly in the Atlantic Autonomous Zone, where local governing councils last month came out against oil development. While the size of Nicaragua’s oil reserves is not known, the Nicaraguan Energy Institute (INE) estimates the country can produce 50,000 barrels of crude and two million cubic feet of natural gas daily. So far, four...
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Controversial plans for oil production in an Amazon park are getting bigger: drilling has revealed that petroleum reserves are more extensive than originally thought. Plans by the state oil company, Petroecuador, to tap the Ishpingo Tambococha Tiputini (ITT) oilfield fueled opposition from the start because the field includes 495,000 acres (200,000 hectares) of Ecuador’s 2.43-million-acre (982,000-hectare) Yasuni National Park. (See “ ‘Oil project of the decade’ targets Amazon park”—EcoAméricas, Sept. ’01.) But concern among environmental groups has grown following the government’s announcement that with two appraisal wells drilled the bloc’s proven reserves now stand at 1.41 billion barrels—nearly double the 710 million barrels originally estimated. Officials say ITT’s reserves might climb to 2 billion barrels after an exploratory well is drilled...
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Though construction of Ecuador’s second major crude-oil pipeline is reportedly 60% complete, protest action against the project continues. Opponents are using various means to halt the pipeline ranging from attempts to occupy the offices of companies financing the work to the purchase of property in the right of way. For its part, the Ecuadorian government has deported foreign protesters and arrested local anti-pipeline activists. So far this year, ten foreign activists have been sent out of the country. The latest was Julia Butterfly Hill, a U.S. environmentalist who made headlines by living atop a redwood tree for two years in northern California’s Humboldt County to prevent a timber company from cutting the tree down. Hill was in Ecuador to draw attention to the...
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