At night, the lights on streets and beaches and in parks and tunnels are dimmed. Airconditioners in the president’s office have been turned off; nighttime sports events and concerts have been canceled. Government employees may soon be forced to shift to a six-hour work day, and private companies are talking of moving production abroad for the duration of the emergency.
In response to what increasingly resembles a California’s style energy crisis writ large, on Friday Brazil began at least six months of obligatory electricity rationing. Three-quarters of the 170 million Brazilians have been told that they must immediately cut consumption by 20 percent or face rolling blackouts and unscheduled power interruptions, which would surely cripple the economy here, in Latin America is most populous nation.
The government says the measures are needed because the country is in the throes of its worst drought in decades. With one of the most extensive drive networks in the world, Brazil, which is larger than the continental United States, obtains more than 90 percent of its electricity from dams and has not invested extensively in alternatives.
Few ordinary Brazilians had any inkling of the seriousness of the crisis until the government announced the conservation measures in mid-May, sparing only the Amazon districts and the far south. But as the harsh reality of the situation sinks in, the initial shock and anger are giving way to a grim realization that nearly every aspect of life will be curtailed.
"We have been raised to think that ours is a land of abundance and riches, where nothing is ever lacking", said Lucina Trilho, a store clerk.
"So yes, that may have led us to be wasteful. And yes, we may need to be re-educated. But it is going to be difficult, even frightening, to have to make all these adjustments."
By LARRY ROHTER, RIO DE JANEIRO, June 6, 2001
Who had not understood the necessity of conserving energy before the announcement?
All Brazilians
The middle class
The poor
The upper class