Sweden offers itself as a model on energy

After he heard President George W. Bush tell Americans this week that they were “addicted to oil,” Prime Minister Goran Persson of Sweden said he was relieved that “at last there’s one more who understands the problem.” Indeed, in a conversation, he seemed to suggest that Sweden’s examples might offer what could be termed an American de-tox.

In a country that has thrust itself to the fore in environmental protection and that has promised to cut its remaining dependence on oil by 2020, Persson has taken the lead in trying to persuade the country’s motorists to use less gasoline, fill their tanks with ethanol and promote ways of heating homes without polluting the atmosphere.

..In fact, though, cars and homes may be the simplest of the problems. Oil used as a raw material for products like plastics “will be the most difficult,” Persson said.

International Herald Tribune