Prosperity Will Defeat Global Warmists

Prosperity is the enemy of those who hope to regulate human behavior on the basis of energy consumption. Education, economic advancement and the progress of civil society all lead to an increase in energy consumption. It is the best measure of an advancing society. India is on the edge of marketing cars to a vast sea of first-time buyers. China has passed that point. The Indian vehicle will probably achieve popularity in Africa.

What does it mean? It means global energy consumption will rise. The world's fleet of cars is set to increase at a rate far higher than population growth. Meanwhile, there are 6.5 billion residents of Earth. That figure is headed for 9 billion by mid-century. That's a lot of car buyers and a lot of energy users.

Bottom line: Aggregate energy use will climb.

Here's the dilemma for the Global Warmists. All social and economic advances lead to higher per-capita energy consumption. Thus, the Global Warmists are doomed to failure, unless they support drastic action. Like genocide or worldwide population control. Populaton control might include forced sterilization or forced abortion. Or maximum life spans.

However, you look at it, global control of energy use would require the most repressive and brutal totalitarian government the world has ever known. Fortunately, the Indian car about to put wheels under hundreds of millions of Indians will do its part to defeat the despotic nature of the Global Warmists.

Tata Nano, world's cheapest new car, is unveiled in India

It is a little over 10ft long bumper to bumper, can seat four passengers comfortably, has reached speeds of 65 miles per hour and is set to transform the concept of travel for the masses in India and in poorer parts of the world.

This is the People’s Car, the world’s cheapest car at a starting price of 100,000 rupees ($2,500) or the equivalent of a DVD player in a Lexus.

Citing moments in history including the first manned flight by the Wright Brothers and man’s landing on the moon, Ratan Tata, the chairman of the company, revealed a cute, compact car designed to appeal to first-time car buyers in one of the world’s fastest growing car markets.

“I hope this is a car that changes the way people travel in rural and semi rural India. We are a country of a billion people and most are denied connectivity,” he said. “This is a car that is affordable and provides all-weather transport for the family.”

The aluminium car contains a rear-loaded 33 horse-power two-cylinder petrol engine and weighs about half a tonne. It is 3.1m long, 1.5m wide and 1.6m high and has four wheels pushed out to the corners to improve its manoeuvring.

The car is the culmination of about five years of research and input from designers across the world, including Italy. But it was ultimately designed and made in India, defying scepticism that an Indian group best known for its elephantine trucks could manufacture a cutting-edge product that would catch the attention of the best in the automotive industry.

The car will be sold first in India, with an initial production run of 250,000 a year, but is expected to be made available in other emerging markets in Latin America, south-east Asia and Africa within four years. It will launch commercially in the second half of the year.

The Nano is about half the price of the cheapest car available. Both the Maruti 800 from India and China’s QQ3Y Chery sell at about $5,000. The prospect of millions of ultra-cheap cars on the roads of developing countries has sent some environmentalists into a panic.

Mr Tata has dismissed suggestions his car will add to the congestion on India’s potholed roads where motorbikes and scooters are the primary mode of transport – about eight million two wheelers will be sold this year.

Tata says the car, which does 50 miles to the gallon, will conform to all present and future emission standards in India and Europe. It has also passed a full-frontal crash test and is designed to pass further impact testing under European standards, he added.