The Cardinal Divide Read Online Free PDF Page A

Cole,” said Dusty, his eyes fixed on Cole over his glasses. “We can’t all be holy crusaders. Some of us have to roll up our sleeves up and try to work from inside the belly of the beast to change things. We don’t get the spotlight, we don’t get any glory. We just slog away, trying to change things one step at a time.”
    Cole drank deeply from his glass, his shaggy curls dropping in front of his eyes.
    â€œDid you happen to get a call from Wild Rose?” asked Martin.
    Cole looked up. “Yeah.”
    â€œGood. What did you think?”
    â€œJeremy Moon just left a message.”
    â€œDid you call him back, Cole?” asked Martin.
    â€œNot yet.”
    â€œNot yet,” echoed Dusty Stevens. “It’s a good job, Cole. It starts at like 70 K a year.”
    Cole shrugged again.
    â€œI know, I know. It’s not about the money. It’s about changing the world. Well, there are more ways than one to change the world, sonny boy. You think it’s easy sitting in a room full of corporate suits and telling them that they are doing things wrong, and trying to convince them that what’s good for the earth is good for business too?”
    Cole looked around the bar, appraising recent entrants.
    â€œLook,” Stevens said, peering over his glasses. “If real change is going to happen in this world, someone is going to have to show these corporations how to do things differently. And who do you think they are going to listen to? You? Out there waving your arms in the air and shouting your fucking head off? Do you think they’re going to listen to the VW -driving hippies protesting the WTO and the World Bank and the IMF ? Jesus, Cole. They aren’t going to listen to those people.”
    Martin cleared his throat. “Cole, it’s like this: you and your clients are out in the public focusing in on these businesses that Dusty and I work for. So what do they do? Well, they do what every good cowboy would do. They circle their wagons, hunker down, and shoot back. But eventually somebody has to show these people how to drive those wagons through a little opening that you and your folks leave for them so that they can save face, and save some of the natural world that we three all believe in.”
    â€œTake Wild Rose for example,” said Dusty, ordering another round from the boy behind the bar. “You should call them. We all know Jeremy. He’s good people. They’ve got a bunch of new clients, mostly mining and coal bed methane, and they’re looking for someone who knows the biz. You could help them. You could hold their feet to the fire. Make sure they do things right. Help them talk to the locals. Make sure they consult with Aboriginal communities. That’s right up your alley, Cole. “
    â€œCole, there’s more than one way to save the world.”
    Cole was watching a young woman stand up and brush something from her jeans. He shook his head.
    â€œWhat, Cole. Not pure enough for you?”
    Cole looked at Dusty and smiled.
    â€œWe can’t all be white knights, Cole,” he said again.
    Cole sluiced the beer in his glass and focused on the golden suds. “I really think you guys believe this bullshit you’re spouting,” he finally said with only a trace of a smile. “I do. But I think those corporations that you’re working for are just using you to show them how to drive their wagons through
whatever
hole they can find. Oh, there’s lots of talk about sustainability, and giving back to communities and all, but at the end of the day, little is changing in a real, meaningful way. And the reason is that guys like you two aren’t able to push hard enough from the inside, and guys like me can’t get any traction to push from the outside as long as the companies can point to guys like you and say, look, we’ve got respected environmentalists on staff showing us the way.”
    Dusty