Oil-rich Venezuela’s leader urges energy conservation

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.

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