Mr. Raghavan makes some suggestions for tackling the oil crisis- some reasonable,some preposterous. But what he very significantly fails to mention is that India and the world needs to develop alternative sources of energy fast, in fact very fast, to escape the oil crisis. It was, in part, the fillip given to development of alternative sources of energy by the Jimmy Carter led US administration in the late 70's that did much to put a pin into the inflated egos of the oil lobby, and led to the cheap oil (internationally) of the 80's. India is well placed to develop wind, solar, and tidal energy, and if the government gives an incentive for the development and sale of electric cars, along with tax breaks for owning them, it would go a long way to prevent our not so high forex reserves from being wasted so extravagantly on oil. With the cheap oilof the 80's, the Reagan and subsequent US administrations scrapped the alternative energy measures initiated by Carter, and consequently the US has to face the spectre of high oil prices today. With the US Congress lashing out at the oil companies in the US, they have now started circulating the idea of 'Brakken oil' through the back door, suggesting that the price of oil can then be brought down to $16 a barrel. This is just another attempt by oil majors around the world to delay the introduction of alternative technologies for use by the masses, so that they can profit from huge oil prices.
