While it makes sense to corner First World countries into investing in eco- friendly technologies to control carbon emissions, as was attempted at Copenhagen, the stand of the Indian government that India cannot afford to enforce better environmental norms because, as a country with a huge backlog of poverty, its first priority is “development” implies that India is obliged to repeat all the mistakes that the West committed in its pursuit of economic growth. While for the First World countries the harmful impact of carbon emissions and consequent global warming may represent a future threat, for us in India it is a now-and-here nightmare. The air that citizens of Europe or America breathe is nowhere as lethal as what we in urban India have to inhale. The quality of water available to citizens of First World countries is nowhere close to the filthy, disease- ridden water we in villages and cities of India have to consume.