David and Goliath in Cancun

Like David before he slayed Goliath, ALBA countries (Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Cuba) are taking aim at the polluting giants that are threatening our very existence. Before the Cancún climate change negotiations have even reached their midpoint, the prevailing opinion on the left and the right predicts their failure. But there is an entire week left before the close of this conference, and the possible endings to the story are infinite.


The fundamental purpose of the UN is to create a multi-lateral space where every country has a right to a voice on global decisions. But instead of struggling through points of dissension to reach compromises that seriously address the growing climate crisis, powerful polluting countries are selecting allies and a few token “others” to closed door, off-the-record meetings to bully them into lowering standards and settling on non-binding accords that do little more than blow smoke into the fossil-fuel polluted air.

The resulting smog is keeping the giant’s army out of focus, but it’s clear what they are aiming to kill: the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, ironically set to begin in 2012. (See the high diplomatic drama yourself here: http://webcast.cc2010.mx/webmedia_en.html?id=88.) Out of respect for multi-lateral negotiation etiquette, ALBA delegates haven’t named which countries are reneging on their commitments to reduce emissions, although Japan has already gone public. But at the crux of the Kyoto battle has always been the oil industry, intent on bleeding the last drop of Mother Earth’s precious resource and capturing alternative energy markets while they are at it.

Meanwhile outside this diplomatic battlefield, I interviewed random people in the streets of Cancún, and without exception they pointed to big oil as the giant that must be killed if we are to have a planet for our grandchildren. Located on the Gulf of Mexico, the threat is not theoretical. “We all have a part in taking care of our little part of the planet. We have to learn ways to live without oil. But how can we stop the big companies from polluting our water, land and air if our governments won’t step in?”

Nobody expected an unknown shepherd to be the hero in the ancient showdown either, but he was. The pebbles are within reach. Just take a look around you and aim high.