California sues car makers over greenhouse gases

California has sued six major car companies over damage created by the harmful CO2 emissions from their vehicles. You may remember that just last year nine car makers (including Ford, General Motors and Toyota) unsuccessfully attempted to sue the California state government over its new clean car laws. Now it seems the tables have turned.

Last month, California adopted the nation’s first global warming law which would force car makers to cut greenhouse gases further for both cars and trucks. The previous lawsuit filed by the car makers did manage to block the introduction of the new standards. The car companies in question include GM, Ford, Toyota, DaimlerChrysler, plus the North American arms of Honda and Nissan, who may have to pay damages ranging into the hundreds of millions. Any payments received would go towards dealing with reduced snow back, erosion plus ozone damage.

The car companies are not immediately worried. A similar lawsuit filed in New York against several utility companies was dismissed by a federal court. Honda made a statement that it was committed to enviro-friendly vehicles while most of the other car makers in question are yet to comment. If the car makers were hoping to rely on California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who happens to love some of the highest polluting vehicles on the planet, they had better think again. The governator is said to be one of the major supporters of the measure and he's even turned to cleaner hydrogen power for his Hummer.