Abandoned - See Replies Below
The Issue
After wandering away from @@HIS@@ tour group during a visit to a large inland lake in rural @@NAME@@ last week, a Brasilistani tourist stumbled upon a decrepit wooden box underneath some dense shrubbery. Inside the box, @@HE@@ found a note dated over a century ago claiming the lake has vast, untapped oil reserves. With the authenticity of the note’s age now verified, some of your most trusted Ministers have stormed your office with ideas.
1. "Drill it! Drill it!" screams your Minister for Trade, slightly frothing at the mouth. "If the lake has as much oil as this note says it does, we’re going to be a very, very rich country. That doesn’t just mean cheap fuel for @@DEMONYMPLURAL@@; it also means big money from all those oil exports!"
Effect: fish are seeming much oiler than usual
2. "You can’t just drill Lake Caspina!" your Minister for the Environment snaps. "It’s home to a delicate ecosystem of all sorts of organisms - many of which are already endangered. You’re better off declaring the entire lake a protected area and drastically limiting the number of tourists who can visit. We need to let nature be."
Effect: many now ponder if a tree that falls at Lake Caspina truly makes a sound
3. "Why not do both?" calmly asks your Minister for Compromise. "You can subdivide the lake, and have one half for oil-drilling and tourism, and the other half for environmental protection, or whatever," he shrugs. "Then, I guess, everybody wins."
Effect: a little oil is said to go a long way in the destruction of ecosystems
4. "That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard," observes your secretary with bewilderment. "With all due respect, @@LEADER@@, but these people are really your most trusted Ministers? I think if anything, all this episode has proved is that your cabinet seriously needs an extensive reshuffling and downsizing. You can deal with the lake thing later. You don’t even know if this mysterious hundred-year-old letter is telling the truth."
Effect: @@LEADER@@’s secretary is the second most powerful @@MAN@@ in the country
