OAK BROOK, IL: India Development Coalition of America (IDCA) organized a seminar on 'Global Warming and Rethinking India's Development Strategy' on July 28, at the Oak Brook library. There were three speakers who presented interesting perspectives on this burning issues.

Dr Hari Lamba spoke on the consequences of global warming for India, and what the country could do to respond to this by the way of alternative energy and development policies.He began by summarizing the consequences of global warming for the world and the US, which he has described in his recent book, Rethinking Progress.He outlined what forum attendees could do in the US in terms of encouraging alternative energy policies.

He described the consequences of global warming for India, via extremes of climate, worsening natural disasters, and the adverse impact on economy and health. He communicated the fact that the Prime Minister of India had already become apprised of the problem and had formed a committee to help him develop a strategy to deal with global warming and related alternative energy issues.

Dr Lamba summarized the current situation in terms of the energy use in India, and the current projected plans for energy which place a heavy reliance on fossil fuels - coal, oil and natural gas, and some on nuclear energy. He advocated an alternative energy strategy for India that, while increasing use of fossil fuels, would place a reduced reliance on them, help use them with less pollution and with less carbon emissions, and at the same time aggressively develop renewable energy - solar, wind, biogas, biomass, geothermal and small scale hydro-electric.

This will help India become more self-reliant in energy, reduce the local pollution, help rejuvenate natural resources (especially water), and help the world solve the problem of global warming.Following Dr Lamba's global perspective Prem Mehrotra, founder and President of General Energy Corporation, spoke about the alternative energies that could be used for reducing global warming at the local level. He described in detail the zero energy building that has been built in Glenview, Illinois. His firm was involved in planning the building which has solar panels and vegetation on the roof.

Many energy saving techniques and technologies used in the building were also discussed. Dr Tata Prakasam outlined ways one can trade carbon credits by using green technologies and make money. He was joined in a lively discussion by D. Vidyasagar, M.D. of University of Illinois, Chicago.India Development Coalition of America (IDCA) promotes networking and collaboration among organizations and individuals interested or engaged in promoting sustainable development in India.

Its mission is to inform, inspire, and involve people of Indian origin, as well as others around the world, to support projects in their native locales or elsewhere in India. IDCA encourages financial gifts and facilitates volunteer opportunities. It organizes seminars, workshops and annual conferences in the US and India focusing on education, healthcare, water and livelihoods needs in India.