President Hugo Chavez Frias was greeted with cheers in Copenhagen when he stood up and accused the United States of not doing enough to combat global warming. He further berated America and received a standing ovation.
Just to make sure everyone in Venezuela is in keeping with Chavez’s beliefs, his government issued new regulations on New Year’s Eve. It seems that Venezuela is using power beyond what their hydroelectric system can produce. Instead of building more dams or oil and gas power stations, Chavez is opting for rationing.
Businesses can now only use electricity from 11:00 AM until 9:00 PM. Any time outside of that they must either shut down of operate on generators that the businesses must buy themselves.
If anyone breaks this decree, they will get a 20% surcharge on their bill. They could also have 24-hour periods where their electricity is shut off. Businesses that continually break this decree would be shut down for a 72-hour period in order to persuade them to use less electricity.
Hmmmmm… That certainly does no good for air pollution, let alone the carbon emissions those generators will emit. Also imaging the noise if everyone has their own generator.
Imagine what this will do to movie houses. Imagine what it will do to data centers and Internet providers. Well, to a a socialist dictator this would be another way of curtailing free speech.
Viva socialism, Mr. Chavez!
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