Calif seeks to resolve carmaker pollution lawsuit
Source: Reuters
(Adds details, Sierra Club comment) By Leonard Anderson SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 1 (Reuters) - New California Attorney General Jerry Brown said on Thursday he sent a letter to the chiefs of six major automakers to resolve a greenhouse gas damage suit started by his predecessor last September. The California lawsuit charged greenhouse gases from the automakers' vehicles have caused billions of dollars in damages in the state. The suit targets General Motors Corp. <GM.N>, Ford Motor Co. <F.N>, Toyota Motor Corp. <7203.T>, the U.S. arm of Germany's DaimlerChrysler AG <DCXGn.DE> and the North American units of Japan's Honda Motor Co. <7267.T> and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. <7201.T>. Brown also said he filed a brief on Thursday opposing a motion by the automakers to dismiss the suit. A hearing is scheduled for March 6 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. In his letter to the carmakers, Brown, a Democrat who was elected last November, said he wanted to meet with each of the chief executive officers of the six companies "to discuss resolution of our pending litigation and moving forward cooperatively." "With the current public, state and Congressional focus on global warming and possible solutions, this is the right time for the state and automakers to find cooperative approaches and resolve litigation in a constructive manner," the letter said. Brown, speaking to reporters in San Francisco, said he received a call early on Thursday from an attorney at Chrysler and described the automakers' reaction as "receptive." Brown, a former governor of California and most recently mayor of Oakland, said California would continue to press its lawsuit against the carmakers, but emphasized the suits are one piece of a wider effort by the state working with the U.S. Congress and auto industry to control "the gigantic problem of greenhouse gas emissions." "OPEN MIND" General Motors spokesman Dave Barthmuss said GM had not seen Brown's letter, but added the company "certainly appreciates the tone and we certainly have an open mind." "A collaborative dialogue is much more useful than what was and remains to be a frivolous lawsuit that has no merit," Barthmuss said. Former Attorney General Bill Lockyer initiated the suit against the automakers less than one month after California lawmakers adopted the nation's first global warming law mandating a cut in greenhouse gas emissions. Lockyer, a Democrat, was elected state treasurer in November. The suit was the first of its kind to seek to hold manufacturers liable for global warming damages caused by greenhouse emissions. It said vehicles made by the six automakers account for more than 30 percent of human-generated carbon dioxide emissions in California. The state is spending millions of dollars to deal with a reduced snow pack, beach erosion, ozone pollution and the impact on endangered animals and fish, the suit said. Bill Magavern, senior representative for the Sierra Club California, said he hoped Brown can persuade the automakers to be more cooperative than in the past. "But there are no signs the auto companies are being more cooperative. The attorney general certainly is doing the right thing by trying to get them to come around but if they refuse we hope he uses all the measures at his disposal," Magavern said. California also has targeted the auto industry with first- in-the-nation rules adopted in 2004 requiring automakers to reduce emissions from cars and light trucks. The auto industry is challenging the rules in U.S. District Court in Fresno, California.
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