Chicago Turns Down Discounted Venezuelan Oil

Brian Dominick, editor of the New Standard, sent me a heads-up on this exclusive story from one of the paper's freelancers. Its a fine example of why publications like TNS, which are progressive and unfettered by corporate ties (even advertising) deserve our support.

It seems that Chicago Transit Authority have kept secret an offer from Venezuela and its oil company, CITGO, to provide discounted fuel oil - 40 or 50% below the current price - for CTA's fleet of buses. The one stipulation, at the bidding of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, was that the CTA, in turn, pass those savings on to poor residents in the form free or discounted fare cards.

The CTA have turned down this unilateral offer with no explanation and instead plan a huge 25c price hike.

This is going to hurt the poor and the minority people, like me," said Dorothy Chew, resident of Humboldt Park, where one-third of residents live below the federally recognized poverty level – currently just $16,000 for a family of three. Chew relies on the CTA to get to work and to Chicago Commons, where she attends classes daily in preparation for taking her GED.

CITGO has been providing discounted heating oil to poor areas in New York and Boston but only 12,000 homes in all of Illinois use oil for heating. Thus the offer to the CTA, which would enable far more poor people to benefit. "We didn't know how else to reach enough people," said Mark Sanchez, Venezuela’s consul general in Chicago.

To recap - Chicago Transit Authority had an opportunity to give thousands of poor commuters free travel. Instead they decided to raise prices. They kept all this secret from the people they serve. Even when asked, the CTA refuses to give a reason for turning down CITGO's offer, which leads more than just me to suspect meddling from the Bush administration or the GOP.

Anyone up in Chicago want to ask their Representatives how they feel about this?