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be a problem.

Second, conscientious consumption of natural resources will not be foiled by complexity. True, certifying extra-financial criterion of petroleum production would be complex, but with adequate economic incentives it could be done. Camisea residents are being armed with digital cameras and trained in using Google Earth to keep the oil companies accountable, so the first step has already been taken.

Again drawing on the organic food example, one can imagine that the ideological trustees of the organic movement scorn the concept of an organic microwaveable dinner, but it shows the successful vertical integration of product far more complex than a simple organic apple. Beyond consumers, the economic incentive for conscientious production comes from proponents of the increasingly influential sustainable investment movement. The United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment, which espouses ethical treatment of workers and the environment, has already attracted signatories with more than $5 trillion in assets. Development-sensitive use of natural resources would help companies meet sustainable investment objectives and attract capital to finance reform. With the prize of high-end consumer support from below and financial support from above, companies could doubtless find a way to manage environmental and social considerations that previously seemed a hindrance.

Third, conscientious consumption of natural resources will not be doomed by producer opposition. Producers may initially oppose restrictions on the use of natural resource revenues, but this will change when market shares begin to erode and the economic advantages of conscientious production become clear. Natural resource markets will not be revolutionized overnight, nor to the extent initially desired, but this is to be expected. A fringe movement must compromise to enter the mainstream. Hard-line organic proponents may argue that high fossil fuel costs of trucking organic lettuce across the country pervert the movement's overall aims, but fertilizer and pesticide use is nonetheless reduced by millions of tons and agricultural as a whole shifts toward the organic ideal. So it could be with natural resources.

It will be very hardif not impossibleto bring the Camisea operation to a complete halt, but consumer pressure could improve the environmental and social performance Camisea's actors dramatically. Boycotting Hunt Oil gas stations could grab the attention of otherwise insulated executives. After Shell employees blasted Greenpeace activists off of a North Sea oil rig in 1995 consumers stopped filling up at Shell, and the company quickly changed its behavior. Encouragingly, there is also precedent for responsible petroleum development in sensitive rainforest areas. In his book Collapse the environmental advocate Jared Diamond describes how Chevron worked to the highest environmental standards in New Guinea, cutting roads only when absolutely necessary, prohibiting hunting or settlement of any kind within the project parameters, and actively seeking the cooperation and support of local tribes before acting.

Camisea can be saved from the worst environmental and social impacts of development, but only if we consumers take responsibility and action for the system we have created.

Learn more about this author, Peter Shattuck.
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