As a country, we have made substantial progress in cleaning up the environment, thanks to the ambitious statutory frame work, impressive contributions by states, municipalities, and the private sector, and most importantly by the Indian Public's unwavering support for clean air and water. And yet, we face a daunting array of challenges. The environment continues to be degraded by toxic chemicals such as pesticides, heavy metals and synthetic organic compounds. We continue to lose wet lands, wildlife habitat and other productive natural resources to development. Demand has exploded for clean water for all its many purposes, in some places outstripping available supplies, as population and economic activity increase. We are notoriously inefficient in the way we use both water and energy. Numerous fisheries are excessively harvested or depleted, and coastal estuaries and waterways are degraded by runoff from sources of pollution dispersed across the landscape. Most obvious today is the threat of global climate change; as more green house gases are pumped into the atmosphere, leading scientists report we have reached, or be close to reaching, a "tipping point" that requires urgent action. It is the time to rethink the roles and strategies of government and the private sector in safeguarding public health and the environment? Taking the twin pillars of regulation and enforcement as a foundation, tackling the challenges of global climate change and toxic pollution requires more of us to fashion nonpartisan solutions that enlist the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of Indians. Technology, which has contributed to past problem, must be employed to reverse current energy and pollution trends, as they pose a clear risk to all of us. This requires the intelligent use of legal and economic tools to create appropriate incentives for those engaged in industry, agriculture, transportation, and business- as well as for consumers, and citizens generally- for we have learned over more than 30 years in this endeavour that environment protection is by no means the exclusive province of EPA. Rather, we have to build the concern into all aspects of our economic and community life if we are to achieve a safe, healthy environment. We need far more attention devoted to the means by which we can stimulate and deploy new, more environmentally sustainable technologies. We need to harness market forces on behalf of the environment. More and more companies are learning that improving efficiency and cutting waste pays off - in their bottom line. Ultimately, we need to reconcile consumer demand with the growing awareness of its impacts on a finite and, it seems, increasingly vulnerable planet. Environmental Laws of India provides a valuable foundation for constructing multifaceted approaches to nonpartisan environmentalism. It offers, in one place, grounding in environmental law, and policy. My hope is that this work will help provide the basis for renewing our commitment to environmental health in step with a modern industrial society. Our future may well depend on our ability to embrace a paradigm shift to sustainable development, in other words, to a model of economics prosperity that respects the essential contribution of natural systems on which all human activities depend.