fallout
09-21-2006, 10:47 AM
California sues car companies over pollution
September 22, 2006
IN A case echoing the landmark litigation against tobacco and fast food companies, California is suing the car giants for damages flowing from climate change.
California, the epicentre of America's love affair with the car, has filed a lawsuit against General Motors, Toyota, Ford, Honda, Chrysler and Nissan, claiming damages related to such issues as melting snow, rising sea levels, increased ozone depletion and bushfires.
The complaint for damages, filed in the US District Court on Wednesday, does not specify how much compensation the state is seeking. But if the suit is successful, the sums would total hundreds of millions of dollars.
Potentially, this could devastate General Motors and Ford, which are struggling with huge debt, saddled with billions of dollars in costs for pensions and health care, declining sales and soaring raw material costs.
Only this week, ratings agencies Moody's and Standard & Poor's downgraded Ford deeper into junk status.
The lawsuit alleges that the defendants produce more than 289 million tonnes of carbon dioxide — more than 20 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions in the US, which, like Australia, has not signed the Kyoto Protocol.
"Right now, global warming is harming California, its environment, its economy, and the health and wellbeing of its citizens," the document says.
"Scientific debate is over: the massive atmospheric increase in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases resulting from human activity has changed the climate and will further change the climate over the next decades.
"Human-induced global warming has, among other things, reduced California's snow pack (a vital source of fresh water), caused an earlier melting of the snow pack, raised sea levels along California's coastline, increased ozone pollution in urban areas, increased the threat of wildfires, and cost the state millions of dollars in assessing those impacts and preparing for the inevitable increase in those impacts and for additional impacts.
"California's natural resources, including water, snow pack, rivers, streams, wildlife, coastline and air quality have been injured by global warming and face a near certainty of additional future harm."
The lawsuit claims California has already spent millions mitigating damage to water storage and delivery systems.
It also claims that snow levels have been significantly reduced, affecting the water supply and increasing the risk of flooding.
It says some beaches have been closed because of storm surges and erosion, and that the state expects to spend billions to protect the levee system.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/california-sues-car-companies-over-pollution/2006/09/21/1158431844127.html
At some point, if I ever build something, I would be sure to include a "not to be used in California" sticker on each one.
September 22, 2006
IN A case echoing the landmark litigation against tobacco and fast food companies, California is suing the car giants for damages flowing from climate change.
California, the epicentre of America's love affair with the car, has filed a lawsuit against General Motors, Toyota, Ford, Honda, Chrysler and Nissan, claiming damages related to such issues as melting snow, rising sea levels, increased ozone depletion and bushfires.
The complaint for damages, filed in the US District Court on Wednesday, does not specify how much compensation the state is seeking. But if the suit is successful, the sums would total hundreds of millions of dollars.
Potentially, this could devastate General Motors and Ford, which are struggling with huge debt, saddled with billions of dollars in costs for pensions and health care, declining sales and soaring raw material costs.
Only this week, ratings agencies Moody's and Standard & Poor's downgraded Ford deeper into junk status.
The lawsuit alleges that the defendants produce more than 289 million tonnes of carbon dioxide — more than 20 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions in the US, which, like Australia, has not signed the Kyoto Protocol.
"Right now, global warming is harming California, its environment, its economy, and the health and wellbeing of its citizens," the document says.
"Scientific debate is over: the massive atmospheric increase in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases resulting from human activity has changed the climate and will further change the climate over the next decades.
"Human-induced global warming has, among other things, reduced California's snow pack (a vital source of fresh water), caused an earlier melting of the snow pack, raised sea levels along California's coastline, increased ozone pollution in urban areas, increased the threat of wildfires, and cost the state millions of dollars in assessing those impacts and preparing for the inevitable increase in those impacts and for additional impacts.
"California's natural resources, including water, snow pack, rivers, streams, wildlife, coastline and air quality have been injured by global warming and face a near certainty of additional future harm."
The lawsuit claims California has already spent millions mitigating damage to water storage and delivery systems.
It also claims that snow levels have been significantly reduced, affecting the water supply and increasing the risk of flooding.
It says some beaches have been closed because of storm surges and erosion, and that the state expects to spend billions to protect the levee system.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/california-sues-car-companies-over-pollution/2006/09/21/1158431844127.html
At some point, if I ever build something, I would be sure to include a "not to be used in California" sticker on each one.