California sues automakers for global warming...

**timmac** · 09.20.06, 01:05 PM

You gotta be kidding me.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California filed a global warming lawsuit on Wednesday against Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F - news), General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM - news), Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.T) and three other automakers, charging that greenhouse gases from their vehicles have cost the state millions of dollars.

State Attorney General Bill Lockyer said the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Northern California was the first of its kind to seek to hold manufacturers liable for the damages caused by their vehicles' emissions.

The lawsuit also names Chrysler Motors Corp., the U.S. arm of Germany's DaimlerChrysler AG (DCXGn.DE), and the North American units of Japan's Honda Motor Co. (7267.T) and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (7201.T).

The lawsuit charges that vehicle emissions have contributed significantly to global warming and harmed the resources, infrastructure and environmental health of the most populous state in the United States.

Ford deferred comment to the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, an industry group which could not immediately be reached. The other automakers had no immediate comment.

Lockyer, a Democrat, said the complaint states that under federal and state common law the automakers have created a public nuisance by producing "millions of vehicles that collectively emit massive quantities of carbon dioxide."

Carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases have been linked to global warming.

The lawsuit comes after California passed legislation supported by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that requires the state to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 25 percent by 2020. California was the first state to mandate a reduction of greenhouse gases.

California has also issued rules to force automakers to cut tailpipe emissions from cars and trucks. Enforcement of those rules is being delayed by litigation from automakers.

Next, they'll start to sue the consumers for driving too fast and generating more emissions, and suing dairy and hog farms because their animals fart!

**billy007** · 09.20.06, 01:18 PM

Just out of curiosity, what kind of vehicle inspections do they do in California? I know a lot of states used to do emissions testing (including Florida) but for whatever reason they ceased them. In my opinion, it's not really the new cars that cause the majority of the emission problems, it's the old crappy ones that people don't keep up and ride around with cracked and/or modified exhaust systems.

**Guitar Shark** · 09.20.06, 01:32 PM

Originally Posted by timmac

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California filed a global warming lawsuit on Wednesday against Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F - news), General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM - news), Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.T) and three other automakers, charging that greenhouse gases from their vehicles have cost the state millions of dollars.

State Attorney General Bill Lockyer said the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Northern California was the first of its kind to seek to hold manufacturers liable for the damages caused by their vehicles' emissions.

The lawsuit also names Chrysler Motors Corp., the U.S. arm of Germany's DaimlerChrysler AG (DCXGn.DE), and the North American units of Japan's Honda Motor Co. (7267.T) and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (7201.T).

The truly funny thing is that Lockyer probably owns at least one of those vehicles.

**Filthy 150** · 09.20.06, 03:02 PM

Ford should file suit on the state of California for being over the asshole limit without a permit.

**WinterlessIceness** · 09.20.06, 03:19 PM

Originally Posted by billy007

Just out of curiosity, what kind of vehicle inspections do they do in California? I know a lot of states used to do emissions testing (including Florida) but for whatever reason they ceased them. In my opinion, it's not really the new cars that cause the majority of the emission problems, it's the old crappy ones that people don't keep up and ride around with cracked and/or modified exhaust systems.

I think old crappy cars were made by the same companies.

**LegallyInsane** · 09.20.06, 04:28 PM

Unbelievable and yet totally believable. This is the kind of bullshit that infuriates me, and as a soon-to-be-licensed attorney, would love to be involved in defending the car companies. As much as I would want to see
this tossed as being frivolous, I can see it going to trial and the auto
makers getting fucked.
Hey, California! Why don't you just ban automobiles all together? Oh, no wait! You guys love your cars more than any other state in the Union.
This is like someone protesting on behalf of PETA while wearing alligator shoes and a fur coat. Fucking hypocrites. The sad part is that it only takes 12 morons to find in favor of California, and there are more and more morons out there these days.

**Axxman300** · 09.20.06, 05:10 PM

Why not sue God? It's his faulty planetary design.

Oh man, I wish I was a lawyer, I'd represent Ford for free.

First off, the State will have to show that it has a long record of a commitment to mass transit systems other than highways. I can't because the state of California is run by retards. I've lived in California all of my life and I've seen a concerted effort degrade mass transit by powerful real estate developers who've torn up hundreds of railroad tracks because choo-choo trains are loud and lower property values. Up in the bay area, BART (the light rail system) still doesn't go into the SF airport. This is because of the cities powerful taxi-cab lobby.

Secondly, the state would have to prove that it's own environmental policies have not contributed in any way to CFCs or other green house gas bullshit. In 1992, California was the first state to mandate MTBE be put in the gasoline under the myth of Oxigenates. The result was poisoned wells and contaminated reserviors and an increase is resperatory deaths on Los Angeles county.

You could argue that California, the state with the most motor vehicles , it itself the leading cause of "Global warming" in the western United States and do to it's short-sightedness and fiscal stupidity. Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Arizona should all team up and sue California. It would make just as much sense.

**Darkstar** · 09.20.06, 05:47 PM

And exactly HOW has auto emissions cost the state millions of dollars? This coming from a state where cars outnumber the people....

**Ted Van Halen** · 09.20.06, 05:51 PM

I'd be willing to bet the UAW is tied into this somehow. Ford offered a buyout to basically every employee last week in a move to ultimately rout the UAW. This is just a diversionary tactic to tie up more of Ford's cash & send a message to the rest of the UAW represented makers to not even try to get rid of them. Of course this is just speculation on my part.

Ted

**Axxman300** · 09.20.06, 06:33 PM

Originally Posted by Ted Van Halen

I'd be willing to bet the UAW is tied into this somehow. Ford offered a buyout to basically every employee last week in a move to ultimately rout the UAW. This is just a diversionary tactic to tie up more of Ford's cash & send a message to the rest of the UAW represented makers to not even try to get rid of them. Of course this is just speculation on my part.

Ted

No. The Cal AG is a dipshit.

This is a spin-off from the tobacco shake-down lawsuits from the 1990s. The problem is that we don't know what Global warming actually means for the long-term environment and right now many scientists are starting to thing that it might be a good thing. Nobody knows because nothing is conclusive right now.

**Mikey Metalhead** · 09.20.06, 07:17 PM

can we sue California for being G>>>>>AAAAYYYYYYY

**billy007** · 09.20.06, 07:19 PM

Originally Posted by WinterlessIceness

I think old crappy cars were made by the same companies.

Yeah, but they weren't old and crappy when they were sold (most of them) - they've become that way by people not maintaining them.

**ZeoBandit** · 09.21.06, 06:38 AM

How about California also sues it's own residents for buying cars that pollute the atmosphere, and for all the industry that dumps waste into the water and air also. This suit will get dropped faster then a drunken prom date after sex.

**Brett** · 09.21.06, 11:32 PM

Shouldn't the Earth be suing the automakers?

**onefootoutthedoor** · 09.21.06, 11:51 PM

Originally Posted by Axxman300

Why not sue God? It's his faulty planetary design.

Oh man, I wish I was a lawyer, I'd represent Ford for free.

First off, the State will have to show that it has a long record of a commitment to mass transit systems other than highways. I can't because the state of California is run by retards. I've lived in California all of my life and I've seen a concerted effort degrade mass transit by powerful real estate developers who've torn up hundreds of railroad tracks because choo-choo trains are loud and lower property values. Up in the bay area, BART (the light rail system) still doesn't go into the SF airport. This is because of the cities powerful taxi-cab lobby.

Secondly, the state would have to prove that it's own environmental policies have not contributed in any way to CFCs or other green house gas bullshit. In 1992, California was the first state to mandate MTBE be put in the gasoline under the myth of Oxigenates. The result was poisoned wells and contaminated reserviors and an increase is resperatory deaths on Los Angeles county.

You could argue that California, the state with the most motor vehicles , it itself the leading cause of "Global warming" in the western United States and do to it's short-sightedness and fiscal stupidity. Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Arizona should all team up and sue California. It would make just as much sense.

Actually, BART has been going straight into SFO for the better part of two years now. It actually terminates one stop after that in Millbrae where there there is the only multi-transit cross platform (with Caltrain) west of the Mississippi. I think the Bay area is one of the few, if only areas in the state that really utilizes mass transit.

BTW, this lawsuit is the biggest waste of taxpayer money.