MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT & CEO

If India Can Do It, Why Can’t America?
–Charles J. Brown

Anyone who’s been to Delhi, India, knows that a trip there is bound to bring you face-to-face with some of the world’s worst air pollution. In fact, a friend told me that living in Delhi was the equivalent of smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. I don’t know whether that’s true, but I do know that when you arrive at Indira Gandhi International Airport, the pollution is immediately apparent — not only can you see it, but you can smell and even taste it.

Over the years, I’ve visited India more than a dozen times, but my recent trip marked my first visit since 2000. What I found was a profound change that will significantly improve the lives of average Indians. Air quality remains a pervasive problem, but Delhi’s leaders have mounted a coordinated effort to make it better.

While the battle for cleaner air in Delhi is not yet won, the progress the city has made is already dramatic — and making a difference not only in terms of the health of Delhi’s own citizens, but also in terms of the fight against global warming.

The key to Delhi’s success is its massive campaign to convert thousands of vehicles to compressed natural gas (CNG). In Delhi, 3,100 buses use CNG, making it the largest fleet in the world. The ultimate plan calls for 10,000 CNG buses. Many tout their use of CNG on the sides of their buses in hopes of attracting new customers.

The changes go beyond the bus system. Delhi is in the process of building a first-class subway system. It has required all government fleet vehicles to use CNG since 1996. And in 1998, the city banned all vehicles over 15 years old. Its ubiquitous Ambassadors — a fifties-era design that once symbolized India’s failure to keep up with the world — are mostly gone now. Those remaining, mainly taxis, use CNG. And perhaps most importantly, auto rickshaws (three wheeled vehicles whose two-stroke engines used to be one of the biggest sources of pollution) now must use CNG.

To support this changeover, Delhi has created a refueling infrastructure. CNG stations are as common as gas stations — there are nearly 100 of them throughout the city, and the taxi drivers I spoke to find them convenient and easy to use.

Delhi’s successful start begs one obvious question: If they can do it, why can’t we? In the coming decades, the use of alternative energy not only can help improve air quality, it also can help slow down climate change. In addition, alternative fuels represent an important competitive advantage: Both China and India are working to implement strategies that will allow them to move to next-generation energy technologies and thus avoid the social and environmental costs of fossil fuels. If Americans want to keep pace, we need to start doing more.

Some American cities already have converted their fleets to alternative fuels, and several large corporations—UPS, for example—have followed suit. But if Americans want to stop global warming, and do it soon, we can’t wait much longer. We need to push our elected leaders to take immediate action.

The good news is that you can do two things today to help. First, encourage your mayor to agree to the goals outlined in the Urban Environmental Accords and the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. These two important new initiatives provide cities with clear, measurable goals that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality and help develop new technologies that will keep America competitive. To find out more, click here.

Second, join me today in telling our elected leaders that Americans want them to take immediate action to combat the challenges of climate change. Thanks to the leadership of my friend Laurie David, hundreds of thousands of Americans have joined together in a Virtual March to Stop Global Warming.

As Laurie says, “the time has come for all Americans to speak out in one collective voice to demand that the United States start taking serious actions to stop global warming.” Please join Laurie and me — along with Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, Governor Bill Richardson, Walter Cronkite and many others. Just go to www.stopglobalwarming.org/partners/?466641 to sign on as a virtual marcher. By doing so, you’ll show our elected leaders that Americans want them to find real solutions to the challenge of global warming.

Delhi has a long way to go before its air is clean, but then again, so do we. With each small step we take — whether by marching virtually or by pushing our elected leaders to do more — we are helping build an international movement that will stop global warming in its tracks and find real solutions to the challenges of climate change.


Updated April 10, 2006