Tiny Car, Tough Questions

What happens when the laudable, currently fashionable movement to improve the environment comes directly into conflict with the equally laudable, equally fashionable movement to improve the lives of the poor?

By its very existence, the Nano embodies this dilemma. Though the Indian-made car will remain out of reach for the poorest, it’s an obvious boon for those Indians just entering the middle class, and not only as a convenience. As Indians become more mobile, jobs will become more flexible, trade and commerce easier, growth even faster. “I hope this changes the way people travel in rural India,” the manufacturer declared as the car was unveiled at the Auto Expo in New Delhi. “We are a country of a billion, and most are denied connectivity.”
There must be a way to reconcile mass car ownership with global warming, but, at the moment, we haven’t found it. There is no profound reason that good environmental policies have to come into conflict with economic growth, but they often do. In many countries, the desire not to be poor is stronger than the desire to breathe clean air. Look at photographs of Beijing’s smog if you don’t believe me.

Maybe technology will save us. But in the meantime, the global conversation about climate change, environmental conservation and fossil fuel consumption would become infinitely more interesting if the participants, particularly the ones dressed in organic haute couture, forthrightly acknowledged the real trade-offs. At the recent Bali conference on climate change, there was some talk of compensating developing countries for preserving their forests, as well as of subsidies for clean technology. If, at the next conference, delegates focus even a few minutes of their attention on the millions of Nano cars that will take to the roads in India and elsewhere over the next few years, we’ll know they’re really serious.

Washington Post