I attended a seminar earlier this year with contributions from several US environmental scientists who made the point that the DR had the potential to release itself from its almost total dependence on fuel imports. Never mind CC/GW whatever you want to call it, it makes economic and geo-political as well as environmental sense. For all countries, not just the DR!
The government's latest set of fuel saving measures are very feeble in comparison with what could be done. I'm also very wary of the enthusiasm with which they are throwing themselves into ethanol production, bearing in mind the potential effect on food prices and other unpleasant environmental side effects.
I totally agree that it's crucial to practice what we preach on a personal level. I have consciously lived as 'green' as possible since the mid-1980s, well before that Gore fellow everyone keeps talking about came on the scene. Along with all the other usual food and waste related lifestyle choices, I resisted owning a car until the age of 35. But I know that there are many things that I could improve (especially air-miles...), and that external changes - like better urban planning in the city I live in - also have to take place.
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