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Saudi Minister Slams Costly Alternatives to Oil |
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| USA: February 8, 2006 | ||
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HOUSTON - Mandating costly alternatives to oil in the name of a cleaner environment could impoverish people and lower living standards, the Saudi Arabian oil minister said Tuesday.
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"I believe that we should not impoverish people in the name of a cleaner environment," Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi told an energy conference. "Lowering living standards, or limiting peoples' ability to rise out of poverty, in order to improve the environment trades one potential health hazard for another." He said that would be the result of asking consumers to give up oil for a less efficient and more costly alternative fuel that would otherwise be uneconomical. Naimi's comments came a few days after US President George W Bush said America was addicted to Middle Eastern oil. He also committed to raising alternative energy funding by 22 percent for clean coal, wind and solar power, ethanol, and fuel cells.
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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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