Calif. sues carmakers over global warming
By Michael Kahn
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California on Wednesday sued six of the world's largest automakers, including General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp., over global warming, charging that greenhouse gases from their vehicles have caused billions of dollars in damages.
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, state Attorney General Bill Lockyer said. [...]
Lockyer told Reuters he would seek "tens or hundreds of millions of dollars" from the automakers.
The lawsuit seeks monetary damages for past and ongoing contributions to global warming and asks that the companies be held liable for future monetary damages to California. [...]
[...] Lockyer -- a Democratic candidate for state treasurer in the November election [...]
If your idea of a wise steward is someone who will waste millions of your taxpayer dollars on an absolutely insane lawsuit simply so he can grandstand and preen, then by all means, elect this man as your state treasurer.Obviously, the car companies are going to have to work on this in the courtroom, but it might be worth considering that state, county, and local jurisdictions in California buy a lot of cars--police cars, utility trucks, supervisor's vehicles. Since the state has just become a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the car companies, it only seems fair that those companies should suspend delivery of all vehicles and spare parts to California government offices until this is settled. Sure wouldn't want the state to be seen as having a conflict of interest or anything, or further exacerbate the air quality problems in California by continuing to fill the place up with filthy death-spewing internal combustion thingies. Also, I think it would be wise until this is all settled for all public employees to have to park their official vehicles and take public transportation. Keep a united front and all.
Posted by Terry Oglesby at September 20, 2006 02:23 PMRefusing to sell and service and fix the state's firearms did work for one of those 50 cal building companies. I don't remember which one but the company president sent out a letter explaining why the guns would not be fixed or returned while the state blocked sale of their guns. Seems like a great idea to me.
Posted by: Nate at September 20, 2006 02:41 PMThe tactic is similar to the one Ford used when it started getting slapped with lawsuits from hot-shot municipalities using the Crown Vic patrol car. (Here's a link to a story from back in 2005 about this in Illinois.)
Refusing to do business with someone who's suing you seems like a prudent course of action.
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at September 20, 2006 02:54 PMI would also point out that the automakers merely MAKE the cars; any of the unproven (and possibly unprovable) effects of the vehicles lies with the operators of the cars, not the manufacturer.
Posted by: skinnydan at September 20, 2006 03:35 PMOh, you and your common sense! You'll never get to be state treasurer like that.
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at September 20, 2006 03:46 PMWouldn't the purchasers of those same polluting vehicles share the liability for the GWing? Its a shared problem right? If the companies make them and nobody buys them there's really no problem, right? So the state should include every person with a vehicle registered in the state.
That sounds like a campaign success plan.
Posted by: Nate at September 20, 2006 05:07 PMAl Gore just arrived in Australia to spruik his film.
It's a long way to swim, but I'm sure he managed.
I'll hide my car.
Posted by: kitchen hand at September 20, 2006 09:18 PMWell, Nate, obviously you must be reeducated. The state would have a problem suing all the taxpayers, so what they'll need to do is turn them into a revenue stream to cover the cost of the litigation. A nice fat $5,000 global warming surcharge per vehicle would do nicely. It'll be good for them--make 'em want to ride the bus and all. Of course, limousines and John Travolta's private airliner would be exempt...
And speaking of airliners, just how is it they escaped this suit? They don't even have catalytic converters! EVIL DEATH SPEWERS! And Boeing and MacDonnell Douglas and Airbus and Lockheed all got TONS of money!
And Kitchen Hand, could you do us a favor and keep Al for a while? Maybe let him go play with the dingos or something?
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at September 20, 2006 09:37 PMBelieve me - even the dingos wouldn't get that baby.
Posted by: skinnydan at September 21, 2006 08:10 AM