Critical Times

SAN FRANCISCO: California is suing six of the world’s largest car-makers over their alleged contribution to global warming.
The lawsuit, filed yesterday, is the first of its kind to seek to hold manufacturers liable for the damages caused by their vehicles’ emissions, Californian Attorney-General Bill Lockyer said.

It comes less than a month after Californian politicians adopted the nation’s first global warming law mandating a cut in greenhouse gas emissions.

“Global warming is causing significant harm to California’s environment, economy, agriculture and public health,” Mr Lockyer said.

“The impacts are already costing millions of dollars, and the price tag is increasing.

“Vehicle emissions are the single most rapidly growing source of the carbon emissions contributing to global warming, yet the federal Government and auto-makers have refused to act.

“It is time to hold these companies responsible for their contribution to this crisis.”

The defendants named in the complaint are Chrysler Motors Corporation, General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company, Toyota Motor North America Inc, Honda North America and Nissan North America.

California also has targeted the car industry with first-in-the-nation rules adopted in 2004 requiring car-makers to force cuts in exhaust pipe emissions from cars and trucks.

But car companies have so far blocked those rules with their own legal action prompting one analyst to say California’s lawsuit represents a way for the state to pressure car manufacturers to accept the rules.

“That’s the objective,” said David Cole, chairman of the Centre for Automotive Research, a non-profit organisation that provides public research and forecasts about the industry. “They want to get the auto-makers basically to bow down and pay homage to the (emissions) law.”

Ford deferred comment to the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which said yesterday’s lawsuit was similar to one a New York court dismissed. “Auto-makers will need time to review this legal complaint, however, a similar nuisance suit that was brought by attorneys-general against utilities was dismissed by a federal court in New York,” the industry group said in a statement.

Toyota declined to comment as the company evaluated the lawsuit. The other car-makers had no immediate comment.

Environmental groups hailed the suit, saying it was another weapon for the state as it sought to curb greenhouse gas emissions and spur the car industry to build vehicles that pollute less.

“(California) just passed a new law to cut global warming emissions by 25 per cent and that’s a good start and this lawsuit is a good next step,” said Dan Becker, director of the Sierra Club’s Global Warming Program.

Mr Lockyer said he would seek “tens or hundreds of millions of dollars” from the car-makers in the lawsuit filed in US District Court in Northern California.

Reuters, AFP