Java_Bob

Idiots Courted
Today's assinine lawsuit, filed in fashions reminiscent of a Michael Crichton novel:

California's attorney general is suing the six largest U.S. and Japanese automakers for damages related to greenhouse gas emissions.

The federal lawsuit alleges that emissions from their vehicles have harmed Californians' health, damaged the environment and cost the state millions of dollars to combat their effects.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers says it needs more time to review the complaint, but that automakers already are building cleaner and more fuel-efficient vehicles.

The lawsuit is the latest effort from California to combat the effects of global warming.

No it isn't. The article neglects to mention that Attorney General Lockyer, a Democrat, is running for Treasurer and obviously intends to score the votes of ignorant hippies. Mayor Daley pulled a similar stint, spending six years and the City of Chicago's resources on a similar lawsuit against gun manufacturers, a lawsuit that was eventually thrown out by the Illinois Supreme Court in a unanimous decision.

If Daley believed that the unlawful use of handguns cost the city hundreds of millions of dollars, as he contended, he should've billed the people who used the handguns unlawfully. Likewise, if Lockyer believes that cars are creating a public nuisance in California, he should bill the drivers. Of course, neither of them will, because recovering the losses aren't the real issue. Winning the electoral sympathy of the desperately uninformed, however, is, and many of those people are or are closely associated with people who would be receiving bills under the alternate scheme, something unlikely to earn their admiration and support.

The only public nuisance here are people like Daley and Lockyer.

Update: Heh.

If I were those car companies, I'd close any plants that manufacture vehicles in the state (starting with this one near San Francisco.) I would also discontinue buying any parts made by California companies.

Next, I would jack up the price of the cars sold to cover the costs of legal expenses that will surely be incurred by this frivolous lawsuit.

Funny, I think I'd do the same thing.