Ecuador Would Forego Drilling in Amazonian Rainforest for a Price

Ecuador says it will preserve a portion of its Amazonian rainforest — and forego drilling for the 900 million gallons of crude oil beneath it — if rich countries are willing to pay the South American nation $360 million annually. By not drilling for oil in the Yasuní rainforest, Foreign Minister Fander Falconi said, Ecuador could prevent about 410 million tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. The $360 million fee is about half the amount of revenue that the 900 million gallons of petroleum beneath the rainforest would generate. The proposal comes as developing nations made the case during a United Nations climate conference this week that rich nations should compensate developing countries for taking steps to reduce carbon emissions. “We have to attack the cause of climate change, which is the elevated use of energy by industrialized countries,” Falconi told Reuters. Ecuador, a member of OPEC, produces about 450,000 barrels of oil daily.