Automakers Sued over Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Today the state of California sued half a dozen automakers over the greenhouse gases that their products are producing. State Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed the suit in the suit U.S. District Court in Northern California claiming that the vehicle emissions have cost the state millions of dollars by creating a public nuisance. The claims come under state and federal common law and accuse the manufacturers of producing "millions of vehicles that collectively emit massive quantities of carbon dioxide". The six biggest manufacturers of vehicles in the United States including General Motors, Ford, Chrysler Group, Toyota, Nissan and Honda are included in the suit.
This is an interesting new approach in the fight to move beyond federal emissions and fuel efficiency regulations. For many years the state of California has been trying to set emission standards and more recently fuel economy standards that exceed those set by the federal government. The state has been largely successful on the emissions front but has been sued by manufacturers claiming they don't have the authority to set economy standards. More recently they have taken an indirect approach to economy by trying to limit carbon emissions which are a direct output of burning fuel. The more fuel a car burns the more carbon it produces. The only realistic way to limit carbon output is to limit the fuel that is consumed. Given how the car makers have fought carbon regulations it will be interesting to see how they respond to this suit. Also of interest will be how the Japanese brands respond. It should be an interesting fight. Stay tuned.
[Source: Reuters, Hat Tip to Steve]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Howard Lee Harkness 5:19PM (9/20/2006)
There are also millions of people and animals in California that collectively produce massive quantities of CO2 -- by breathing. Is California going to sue them, too?
Gotta wonder what lame-brained politician came up with that one.
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Miyoshi 6:48PM (9/20/2006)
#1, Did you even read the article? Suing over CO2 emissions is an indirect way to get automakers to increase fuel economy without having to rely on federal fuel economy standards. Fuel economy is California's ultimate objective.
Before you start whining about politicians, read the damn article before you make a lame, uninformed comment.
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Adam 9:36PM (9/20/2006)
But CA doesn't have to buy or use the cars! Sue the people for using them, not the makers.
I'm getting sick of this "sue everybody for anything" country.
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David Counter 9:55PM (9/20/2006)
I can't see what grounds the government can sue car companies on. It is the governments responsibility to implement policies that stop people from driving cars that don't meet the standards they should have set in the first place.
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jon 10:13PM (9/20/2006)
This idea is quite stupid, I'll be surprised if it works... I also think this is unfair to car companies that make lower-emissions vehicles than their competitors.(obviously, some cars have lower emissions than others). I hope they are not all being sued equally...but then again, like I said, this whole idea is pretty dumb anyway.
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John Anderson 7:18AM (9/21/2006)
California's wildfires are making people ill and it sues the automakers?
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/medicine/la-me-smoke21sep21,1,5551272.story?coll=la-health-medicine
What gives?
Does California have that much contempt for Russia that it will not spend at least this amount of energy protesting the US Forest Service's efforts to keep the world's most powerful, proven, firefighting aircraft off the world's worst wildfires?
Check it out: Google search: IL-76 waterbomber
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22IL-76+waterbomber%22&btnG=Google+Search
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Jeff 8:23AM (9/21/2006)
I suppose California should sue the ocean, all rivers and creeks, lakes, and anyone with swimming pools since water vapor is also a greenhouse gas.
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MikeW 10:04AM (9/21/2006)
Next up, California versus the San Andreas fault.
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Jeff 10:28AM (9/21/2006)
I suppose it's a good thing that Old Faithful isn't in California. And Mt. St. Helens wouldn't stand a chance...
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Chet 2:57PM (9/21/2006)
Waitaminute... California is suing the six biggest automakers.
For damages resulting from greenhouse gases.
How did the state cover all of those expenses?
With taxes?
On the economy?
That's powered by?
File this under "having cake and eating it too."
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Dave 6:15PM (9/21/2006)
This is another case of misusing the court system to achieve what correctly must be obtained through the legislative process. Lockyer is behaving in a manner that is illegitimate and immoral, misusing public office for personal and political gain (he is aping Eliot Spitzer in New York). Junk lawsuits to secure what is desired (sometimes with settlement terms brazenly stated, as with the lawsuits against the gun makers) is simply the ugly cousin of the more common form of judicial activism, invention of law out of thin air by (activist) judges in place of real law created through the legislative process. It seems that even in loopy liberal California's legislature, which itself actually has already engaged in ridiculous "global warming" nonsense, it may not be possible to be as outrageous and downright stupid (and venal) as Lockyer wishes to be. Lockyer is preparing for a fresh election by appealing, as so many of his kind do, to the losers and scum who would vote for him, the only kind of people who support what he is doing, or what others do when they illegitimate misuse the courts as well.
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