Venezuela last month ended the sale of leaded gasoline here, becoming the last major Latin American country to do so. The milestone was greeted with varied reviews. The state oil company Petroleum of Venezuela (PDVSA) hailed the removal of lead, added to gasoline for decades to boost octane and stop engine knock, as an environmental breakthrough. “The Bolivarian government has applied the measure—the eradication of tetraethyl lead—to place itself at the vanguard in terms of world regulations on environmental issues,” the company said in a national advertising campaign. PDVSA refers to unleaded fuel as “ecological gasoline.” Green advocates describe the removal of leaded fuel—and the toxic pollution it produced—as an isolated bright spot in an otherwise grim environmental picture here. “It... [Log in to read more]