With oil prices dropping and several non-renewable energy clauses slyly inserted into the recent credit bailout bill, there hasn’t been a lot of good news on the carbon-emission reductions front lately. But a disagreement over land rights in India may delay more carbon emissions emanating from that country.

Indian company Tata Motors planned to begin building their Nano, a $2,300 subcompact designed for India’s burgeoning working class, within the year. But to procure land for the new factory, the government of the state of West Bengal displaced thousands of local farmers. 

Most were happy with their compensation from the government, but a couple thousand have staged non-stop protests against the plant, forcing its closure and delaying the dream of car ownership — and the carbon emissions that come with it —  for hundreds of thousands of Indians.

While images of whole families packed onto motorbikes make it clear lower-cost autos are needed in the developing world, Tata could use this unforeseen delay to hatch strategies for minimizing its microcar’s impact.