Francesco Zaratti, energy analyst, columnist and former advisor to former Bolivian President Carlos Mesa: The contribution of the Bolivian energy sector to global warming is insignificant due to its small size, however, the transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy is an economic urgency due to the ‘end of the gas cycle.’ Gas is running out in Bolivia because of natural causes (declining gas fields) and political causes (the insane legal and tax regulations that scare away foreign investment in hydrocarbon exploration). In fact, production has fallen 30 percent in the past eight years. The government has willfully avoided updating gas reserve figures. But fuel imports are on the rise and that fuel is then subsidized to keep consumer prices low, which is unsustainable. Bolivia’s loss of prominence in the regional gas market is an incontrovertible reality. In response to the crisis, the government has chosen to increase supply by betting on biofuels, which, at the end of the day will do little to mitigate the coming energy shortage…”