California Suing Automakers Over Greenhouse Gases
Sept. 20 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and four other automakers were sued by California for making vehicles that contribute to global warming, causing pollution and erosion that costs the state millions of dollars.
The lawsuit filed today in U.S. District Court in Oakland said General Motors, Ford, Toyota Motor Corp., DaimlerChrysler AG, Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co., the six largest automakers in the U.S., have created a ``public nuisance'' by making millions of vehicles that emit huge quantities of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming.
The suit, which seeks damages related to pollution, beach erosion and reduced water supplies, is the latest action by California to push businesses and the federal government to address global warming. The legislature approved a measure last month to force utilities to cut emissions, and the state has sued the U.S. for failing to address the effects of global warming.
``Vehicle emissions are the single most rapidly growing source of the carbon emissions contributing to global warming, yet the federal government and the automakers have refused to act,'' said California Attorney General Bill Lockyer in a statement.
This is absurd for so many reasons.
Probably the most absurd reason is the fact that we are still far from any "smoking gun" evidence which would suggest global warming is taking place because of human activity. One of the world's leading experts on climate science has recently penned an opinion stating that while the globe is getting warmer, humans aren't the cause. Does the state of California really believe that it can prove, in court, that the rise in global temperatures is the cause of greenhouse gases and not other phenomena? Such as natural long-term cycles in the climate, for instance?
And why is it merely the auto industry that is being blamed for greenhouse gases? Shouldn't the citizens who purchase these vehicles and drive them around bear some responsibility as well? Blaming the automakers for greenhouse gases, and not the folks who drive the cars, seems a bit like blaimg gun manufacturers for the crimes committed with their crimes rather than people who actually used the guns in the crimes. It seems to me that we have, as a society, chosen to drive vehicles powered by fossil fuels. If there were a significant demand among citizens for vehicles that didn't emit greenhouse gases we'd have had those vehicles long ago. Trying to isolate culpability for global warming to automakers only (if there is indeed any culpability to assign) seems a bit silly when pretty much every citizen of this country uses greenhouse gas emitting vehicles.
We should also keep in mind that greenhouse gases don't just come from cars. Remember that humans and animals around the globe issue greenhouse gases every time they belch or pass gas. While a part of me probably wouldn't mind the state of California suing certain people I've had to take car trips with for causing a public nuisance with their gas emittance, it probably isn't a practical way to address concerns over global warming.
To me this lawsuit is reminiscent of the tobacco lawsuits from the last century. When certain states sued the tobacco companies I think the issue was less about public health than it was about leveraging huge sums of money from "big tobacco." I don't think California is suing these automakers because they're really concerned about greenhouse gases because if they wanted to do something about that they could change emissions laws. What this is really about is California getting a big chunk of money from the auto industry.
California's state government is one of the largest bureaucracies the world has ever seen. It is a testament to big-government liberalism, and it devours huge amounts of tax dollars in order to stay afloat. So many tax dollars that it seems as though California's leaders are now turning to ill-advised lawsuits to raise revenue.
But Americans should be wary of this. As silly as the lawsuit sounds, if it gets in front of the right judge it could well result in personal transportation getting a whole lot more expensive than it already is.













