California Drops Greenhouse Gas Damages Suit Against Automakers
Declaring it a moot exercise now that the federal government is moving to accomplish the same goals, California's attorney general has agreed to drop the state's suit against the six major automakers over alleged greenhouse gas damages to California natural resources.
The state had sued General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., Chrysler and the North American operations of Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co., claiming carbon emissions from their vehicles contribute to climate warming, which is accelerating the annual melting of the Sierra snowpack, increasing air pollution and harming wildlife.
But Attorney General Jerry Brown late last week asked the federal Court of Appeals in San Francisco to withdraw the suit. He said changes in federal policy under the Obama administration would achieve the same goal - reduction in automotive greenhouse gas emissions - sought by the lawsuit.
Brown was referring to the administration's recent decision to require automakers to achieve a fleet fuel economy average of 35.5 miles per gallon under the federal CAFE standard by 2016 (that's about 27 mpg on the EPA fuel economy rating system used on new-car window stickers).
Because greenhouse gas emissions are directly related to the amount of carbon-based fuel burned per mile traveled, fuel economy increases result in a reduction of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses linked to climate warming.
- Posted by
- John O'Dell June 23, 2009, 12:02 PM
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- Courts, Emissions
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- California Greenhouse Gas Lawsuit, Greenhouse Gas Damages
I'm betting it has more to do with advice from their lawyers then anything the Feds are doing.
To win in court they would have to prove the theory of Global warming is true and on that assumption that the theroy that it is man made is true and then on that assumption they would have to prove it was caused by the automakers and not by countless other sources of pollution.
And even if they managed to prove all that, they would have to prove it was the fault of the automakers and not drivers of the cars who are free to buy and drive whatever they like and thus are actually one creating the pollution.
Looks like California will just have to find another way to pay it's debts.