Those paying attention to the Indian coal sector know that it's in a state of crisis. Coal supplies for the number of planned plants are largely an illusion, plants that have been built are going bankrupt, and financiers publicly call it a 'distressed sector.'

Regardless of how much more they were doing than the U.S, neither China nor India had found a pathway to commit to a solidly clean energy future. What's changed is the outlook for coal.

The recent Cash for Clunker legislation passed by Congress as part of the $106 billion war funding bill is a complete and total waste of a billion dollars short term, four billion long term.

India's Tata Motors represents a modern-day version of what Detroit could have become if it had begun to adjust its products to obviously impending future needs back in the 1970s.