Green Prophet first met Gal Luft, an Israeli-American lobbyist and alternative energy educator in Washington for the Set America Free Coalition, when Karin covered a profile of Luft on ISRAEL21c. Today, Luft talks about the launch of India’s Tata Nano, the cheapest car in the world and one that could change the entire industry, he says.

But first, a little more on Luft: he advises American senators and presidents on how America can end its dangerous dance with foreign oil. Growing up in Haifa, Israel where he was born, and later South Africa, Luft became all too aware of how oil is used as a weapon for war.

Here are his thoughts on the new Tata Nano:

It’s 2 feet shorter than a Mini Cooper, presents an almost cartoonish appearance and weighs less than the four passengers it seats.

But for the 350-million-plus middle class of India, the just-launched Tata Nano, the world’s cheapest car at $2,000, is a cause for exhilaration. And for the first 100,000 lucky customers drawn via lottery, it’s a dream come true.

A century after Henry Ford put America on wheels with the Model T, the affordable Tata Nano is doing the same to the less privileged of the world. What is now dismissed by many as a “toy car” could soon reveal itself to be the mouse that roared, one of the most transformational consumer products of the century.

Roughly 100,000 Indians lose their lives on the road every year, seven times the rate of the developed world. In a country where it is not uncommon to see entire families overflowing a rickshaw or women in saris sitting side-saddle on a bike with small children on their laps, moving one’s family from an unsafe bike into a plastic capsule is a sensible $2,000 investment.