India lifted 400 million people out of poverty in the last two decades through rapid industrialization and economic growth. Demanding environmental restrictions now would slow that progress and trap millions more in poverty—it's easy for rich countries that already polluted their way to development to lecture us about emissions. We need steel mills, coal plants, and factories to build infrastructure, create jobs, and compete globally. Environmental standards can tighten once we're prosperous.
India's air quality is among the worst in the world, and we're already paying a massive health cost in premature deaths and medical bills that eat away at our gains. The Ganges and our groundwater are collapsing. We don't have the luxury of waiting—climate change will devastate our agriculture, flood our coastal cities, and trigger migration crises that dwarf any manufacturing boom. We need clean growth now, not dirty growth we'll pay for in disaster later.
