Ecuador looks to capitalize on eco-fanaticism

One small South American country may soon be capitalizing on the world's once straight-thinking populace spellbound by Al Gore's charm and global warming "climate disruption" wizardry.

According to the UK's Guardian, Ecuador is demanding money from the global community -- not in exchange for its vast oil resources, but in exchange for keeping them in the ground.  Yes, the world is going to pay Ecuador to do... nothing:

[Alberto Acosta] is the architect of the Ecuadorean government's plan to guarantee to leave 965m barrels of oil in the Yasuni national park in eastern Ecuador if the world contributes $100m in the next year and eventually around $3.6bn. The revolutionary economic idea to earn money by not exploiting a resource has been endorsed by the government and will be administered by the UN Development Programme.

$3.6 billion all for just sitting on vast oil reserves?  This guy is a genius.

Why am I not surprised the UN put its own emphatic stamp of approval on this plan?