Automakers Press California Court to Drop Emissions Suit

Washington DC December 18, 2006; The AIADA newsletter reported that Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Ford, GM and Chrysler – the nation's six largest automakers – filed a motion Friday in U.S. District Court in Oakland to dismiss a lawsuit presented by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, which claims automakers are violating public nuisance laws by producing high-emission vehicles and should pay damages for polluting and contributing to global warming, reports The Associated Press.

Theodore Boutrous, an attorney for the automakers said, "It's the classic kind of case that the Supreme Court has said doesn't belong in federal court."

The auto industry has also been challenging a 2002 California Air Resources Board decision to adopt rules to trim carbon dioxide emissions from cars and light trucks by 25 percent and SUVs by 18 percent beginning in 2009. That case is expected to go to trial on Jan. 30.