India's Model T.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Consternation over the environmental and economic effects of an Indian company's new $2,500 car would be easier to swallow if less of it were coming from Westerners sitting behind the wheels of 12-mile-per-gallon SUVs. With its Nano car, Tata Motors is following a trail blazed long ago by Ford, Volkswagen and others that made automobiles affordable to an expanding middle class. It would be selfish to respond as though the people of India had no right to travel this road.

The concern about the Nano is that India's 1.1 billion people, along with many more in Tata's potential markets in other developing countries, will consume a growing share of a commons that is already under intense pressure. Millions of cars in India will mean millions of tons more greenhouse gases being pumped into the atmosphere, and will produce demand for millions of additional barrels of oil in a world where tight supplies have already pushed prices near record levels.

The implication is that Indians should remain poor, and that the United States and other developed nations have a permanent claim to the largest share of the planet's resources. It's an implication that Indians surely reject - as should Americans, because global disparities in wealth are a source of unending injustice and conflict. As the United States and other wealthy nations face challenges from India, China and other nations that are starting to catch up, the proper response is to move forward, not hold others back.

Moving forward means finding ways to maintain a high standard of living while consuming less oil and other resources, and while placing less strain on the global environment. There is plenty of room for such progress. The energy efficiency of the American economy has doubled in the past 20 years, and can improve further with innovations in fields ranging from architecture to automotive engineering.

The Nano reportedly averages 50 miles on a gallon of gasoline. American cars average less than half that. In India, there are 17 cars for every 1,000 people. In the United States, there are 797 cars for every 1,000 people. Americans are in no position to lecture Indians about the evils of automobile ownership.

India can learn from the mistakes of other nations that have a century of experience with car culture. But the lure of automobile ownership will surely prove as powerful in India as it has elsewhere.