California lunatic and his kind are a threat...

...and they should be "dealt with."

SAN FRANCISCO, California (Reuters) -- California sued six of the world's largest automakers over global warming on Wednesday, charging that greenhouse gases from their vehicles have caused billions of dollars in damages.

The lawsuit is 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.

It comes less than a month after California lawmakers adopted the nation's first global warming law mandating a cut in greenhouse gas emissions.

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

Automakers, however, have so far blocked those rules with their own legal action -- prompting one analyst to say California's lawsuit represents a way for California to pressure car manufacturers to accept the rules.

"That's the objective," said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research, a nonprofit organization that provides public research and forecasts about the industry.

"They want to get the automakers basically to bow down and pay homage to the (emissions) law."

The complaint, which an auto industry trade group called a "nuisance" suit, names General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp., the U.S. arm of Germany's Daimler Chrysler AG and the North American units of Japan's Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd..

Lockyer told Reuters he would seek "tens or hundreds of millions of dollars" from the automakers in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Northern California.

Environmental groups hailed the lawsuit, saying it represented another weapon for the state as it seeks to curb greenhouse gas emissions and spur the auto industry to build vehicles that pollute less.

"(California) just passed a new law to cut global warming emissions by

25 percent 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.

Ford deferred comment to the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which said the lawsuit was similar to one a New York court dismissed that is now on appeal.

"Automakers 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 evaluates the lawsuit, while Honda said in a statement it was committed to developing environmentally responsible technology.

The other automakers had no immediate comment.

However, Sean Hecht, executive director of the Environmental Law Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, said the lawsuit has a "reasonable" chance of succeeding.

He also noted the judge in the New York lawsuit cited rarely-used legal doctrine in ruling that the question at issue was political rather than legal and should therefore be addressed by the legislature and not the court.

"I was surprised that the court in that case did that," he said. "I think it is a straight forward legal question. My impression is this is a very legitimate case to bring."

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. It said California is spending millions to deal with reduced snow pack, beach erosion, ozone pollution and the impact on endangered animals and fish.

"The injuries have caused the people to suffer billions of dollars in damages, including millions of dollars of funds expended to determine the extent, location and nature of future harm and to prepare for and mitigate those harms, and billions of dollars of current harm to the value of flood control infrastructure and natural resources," it said.

The Center for Automotive Research's Cole said it would be tough for the industry to immediately meet demands from some critics and predicted other states would quickly follow suit should California succeed with the legal action.

Adoption of diesel engine emissions technology or gasoline-electric hybrids comes at great cost and improving gas mileage also likely means smaller lighter vehicles, trade-offs that are not attractive to consumers, he added.

"These are not free technologies, they are very expensive," Cole said. "Most people are price sensitive."

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

Lockyer -- a Democratic candidate for state treasurer in the November election -- said the lawsuit 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.

Reply to
rander3127
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Some years ago, I read an article that stated all human beings emit approximately one quart of methane gas, as "part of the digestive process", to put it kindly. How come you never the EPA gurus quote this fact that we are all contributing to the "global warming"? Just think, mutliply that by the total population of the world! And aminals too! Those folks in CA are nuts! JR.

Reply to
chowrunner

Reply to
Michael Johnson, PE

And it's SO bad the stink is felt all the way to Mars and melting ITS ice caps, too!

Let's put it this way... consider all the 'conspiracy-blame ourselves' crap going on.

Where does it get its impetus? From the 'CREATIVE areas' of the Blue States!

Junk Science plus shallow thinking plus 'here-and-now ignorance and denial of history' equals panic and paranoia.

I dont think anyone will deny the positive effect of the original CARB efforts. But there's a problem in thinking 'if some is good, more is better'.

And dont forget... the very same people who would like to tax and legislate the masses into using public transport are the ones who 'make using the bus an adventure sorta like 'Survivor'...by enabling those who take pride in intimidating others.

Reply to
Backyard Mechanic

Well, radical enviro-vegans have tried to get sheep reduced in places like New Zealand. My suggestion would be for every enviro-minded human to kill themselves, thereby eliminating their contribution to the methane issue.

Reply to
Hysterical leftwing global warmers must DIE

Will Lockyer still be in office when this suit eventually goes to court, if it ever does?

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Reply to
W. D. Allen

Thanks for the compliment? I just love being lumped in with "those folks in CA". I have met so many people who think, never having been here, that the state is comprised of nothing but wall to wall people living in a single, unending city. And I have met people who think Sacramento is a couple of hours drive north of LA, or that the state ends at San Francisco; or that anything north of LA is "northern California". People who firmly believe that every resident of the state is a bleeding heart liberal.

Unfortunately, the voting blocks are largely liberal city folks who have no concept of country life. People who pick up the phone when they have a problem and the cops are there in a couple of minutes... so nobody needs guns. They have never lived "out here" where it takes the nearest county cop 45 minutes of hauling a** to reach a victim.

For those who have never been here; in the state with the 5th largest economy in the WORLD; the majority of the population is centered in several major metro areas which amount to a very small fraction of the state's total area. The rest is comprised of farms, orchards, ranch lands, mountains, forests, etc; what we call "rural". Most of us "rural" people are conservative, pro-hunting, pro-fishing, anti-flag burning, against rewarding law breakers, and we're still NOT even ultra conservatives.

So, before you condemn all of us as "nuts"... how about getting to know the state and it's peoples. You might just find that a good share of us are not nuts.

Added: My ancestors didn't arrive on the Mayflower :0), but they did settle in northern California under a Spanish Land Grant prior to

1840; well before there were any liberals. The liberals "nuts" came long after; attracted by the wealth and climate.
Reply to
veegerNO SPAM

"Michael Johnson, PE" wrote in news:QOidnemF9IhmUI_YnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

I saw a satellite photo of the Pacific a few months ago, especially enhanced to show smoke. There was a plume of smoke coming from China that covered most of the Northern Pacific, all the way to the Aleutians and south past Hawaii. I wish I knew where it was, maybe somebody else knows?

Reply to
elaich

veegerNO snipped-for-privacy@snowcrest.net wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Thanks, Spike. I knew you were here somewhere. You said it better than I could. I wish these folks would come out here just once, avoid the cities, and see the real California like you and I do. The cities and the wackos get all the press. Granted, we have our problems, but who doesn't? Ours are magnified because of the scrutiny of the press.

Right now, I can look out my back door and see the sun setting in fiery flames upon the slopes of Mt. Shasta. My neighbor is doodling on his keyboard. I can jump in my car (a Mustang - got to keep it on topic) and in 10 minutes, either be in a primeval evergreen forest, a low altitude agriculural valley, or a high desert with red rock mountains and sagebrush. I have a 14,000 foot mountain to keep me company. It already has some fresh snow on the top. I can find quiet and solitude in the extreme if I want to, without driving very far. I could go down into the Central Valley at sunset, and find ranchers out with their kids, either driving the cattle, or resetting the irrigation for tomorrow. Their topic of conversation would be about deer hunting, where are the fish biting right now, and it's about time to start getting in wood for the winter. My biggest worry right now is about snow tires and chains, because I want to avoid the Last Minute Louies who wait until snow flies before they do anything, and cause a 3 day wait at Les Schwab. Snow in California? You better believe it. Our first storm last winter dropped 3 feet, with 50 MPH sustained winds.

That's the side of California that most people don't see, and few come looking for.

Reply to
elaich

14, 162' of semi active volcano with year round glaciers which I can see from my home in Redding :0)

My fishing rigs have a permanent home in my Mustang :0) 'cause there are so darn many places to fish.

Well, as usual, if you get stuck without, some ol' rancher will show up out of nowhere with an assortment of sizes and help you get going again :0) Bad thing is my Mustang shouldn't have chains. Went to 16" wheels, and the clearance is liable to leave my with extra ventilation.

Park Service finally got the road cleared through Lassen one year in late May. July the road was closed again due to a snowstorm. And I've been stuck with a bunch of others on the way to Susanville in September because the first guy broke traction and blocked the road on an uphill grade. So, while waiting for CalTrans, we got out of our cars and had a big snowball fight, and shared coffee and crackers and beef jerky and such all around. :0)

And for those who are from other areas.... I've lived in NY state and city, Cape Cod, Caribou (ME), Minneapolis, Ft Walton Beach (FL), Peru (IN), Tacoma (WA), Oklahoma City, Anchorage and Fairbanks (AK), Gulfport (MS), Wichita (TX), and found each to have it's pros and cons, just as California does. But all in all, everywhere I've been, the people have been great and the areas have been wondrous in their own ways.

Reply to
veegerNO SPAM

It probably happens everyday. ;)

Reply to
Michael Johnson, PE

The point of it is to further encourage manufacturing to be relocated to China. China, India, Pakistan, etc etc etc are all exempt from the kyoto treaty and all similiar proposals.

It's entirely anti-environment because it's about taking manufacturing from where the environment is protected to where spewing toxins is a practically a national past time. Where the air is translucent because of pollution. And if one buys into the premise of CO2 based warming, it doesn't matter if it comes frome Tianjin or Clevland.

There is a political and economic agenda being pushed. Part of that agenda is to destroy the USA economically and build up China. going into the whys, the hows, etc and how I see it fitting together would be going off on a tangent. I'll just say that the apprently the model for the world is China. Slave wages and total control over the people by a melded government, corporate, military structure.

What I see with 'global warming' is just one facet of a bigger plan that includes erasing the US borders and flooding the labor market and the population with mexicans and others. It has nothing to do with race/nationality but only with a divide and concquer plan where the US population is not bound together in any way and fighting amugst itself. It's an old trick that corporations used to play with their workforces over a century ago. Now its being done to break a nation.

Reply to
Brent P

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