State of California Sues Carmakers on Climate Change

smog_over_la.jpg

If you think Eliot Spitzer picked some tough fights as Attorney General, check out this guy Lockyer in California:

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – California filed a global warming lawsuit on Wednesday against Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp., Toyota Motor Corp. 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, and the North American units of Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd..

It also 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.

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."

  • Man, that’s just insane!

  • Matthew

    What’s insane, the zoning that allowed the development in the photo above? Agreed

  • kablooey

    i say take it a step further by also holding accountable each individual motor vehiclist who are responsible for the premature death, cancer, asthma, and heart and lung disease of non motor vehiclists.

  • Neil

    There goes the looney left again. Blame the evil corporations and take ’em to court. They know better than you and the nanny state will enforce their will through unelected judges. Welcome to the US in the 21st century.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Judge in Vermont Upholds California Emissions Standards

By Brad Aaron |
  Detroit car makers lost another battle in their fight against stronger emissions regulations last week, this time in Vermont. The Burlington Free Press reports: In a major victory for states’ efforts to combat global warming, a U.S. District Court judge in Burlington ruled Wednesday that federal law does not bar Vermont from imposing tougher […]

California Sues Municipalities for Bad Urban Planning

By Jason Varone |
USA Today reports on a new development in the fight against climate change: California is pioneering what could be the next battleground against global warming: filing suit to hold cities and counties accountable for greenhouse gas emissions caused by poorly planned suburban sprawl. The unprecedented action is being closely watched by states that have taken […]

Cyclists Sue New York State DMV for Unlawful Ticket Penalties

By Brad Aaron |
New York City cyclists have filed a class action lawsuit against the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles for administering penalties for traffic violations that by law apply only to motorists. In an August Streetsblog column, attorney Steve Vaccaro reported that the DMV cheats cyclists who plead guilty to traffic tickets online by billing […]

PBS to America: Fight Global Warming, Drive an SUV

By Aaron Donovan |
In 2005, PBS came out with a widely promoted documentary narrated by Alanis Morissette called "Global Warming: The Signs and the Science." For people interested in learning more about the topic of global warming and climate change, this DVD is widely available. Being produced and distributed by a well known and highly respected organization, serves […]

Delucchi Study Finds That U.S. Motorists Do Not Pay Their Way

By Charles Komanoff |
  A dozen or so years ago, back when congestion pricing was a distant dream and New York City’s number one transportation priority was to squeeze more transit funding from government, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign commissioned me to determine which was greater: the dollars that New York State governments took in from drivers, or the […]