Yet again, not surprised

Drop emissions lawsuit: carmakers

The six largest automakers have asked a US judge to toss out a lawsuit by California that accuses them of harming humans and the environment by producing vehicles that add to global warming. The American and Japanese automakers filed a motion Friday in US District Court in Oakland to dismiss the state's suit, and an attorney for the carmakers said Saturday that state officials who want to reduce auto emissions should do it through regulation not litigation. "It's the classic kind of case that the Supreme Court has said doesn't belong in federal court," said Theodore Boutrous, who represents Chrysler, General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Honda and Nissan. State Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who filed the suit in September, claims automakers are violating public nuisance laws by producing high-emission vehicles and should pay damages for polluting. He says automakers could produce cleaner vehicles, but have chosen to fight instead. "The thrust of what we're saying is the technology to produce vehicles that emit far less greenhouse gases exists," Lockyer spokeswoman Teresa Schilling said. "They fight any attempt to get them to cut back on their pollution." The lawsuit contends the state is already dealing with the harmful effects of global warming caused by emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases.
(Toronto Star 061218)

The automakers know far too well that it will be much cheaper for them to fight any lawsuit than aquiesce to pressure to improve emissions and mileage standards. ANY improvement to vehicle safety, performance, emissions controls has always been enacted by government and FORCED by legislation on the car companies to comply. They have never, not once, ever attempted to make these improvements themselves for the sake of human or environmental safety or even their own technological advantage over the competitors because this all affects the bottom line, period. Plus it's simply easier to keep using the same old inefficient technologies than to invest money in new efficient technologies they claim the public has no interest in. Did they ever stop to think that if they offered reasonable alternatives to the consuming public, they would be incorporated into the common mindset? If efficiency and dependability, rather than size and power, were considered the ultimate preferred characteristics of a vehicle BECAUSE the manufacturers decided so, there's no doubt in my mind that we would ALL be driving such vehicles today. But of course, that requires efforts and responsibility on the count of the corporations. Culpability is not one of their more admirable traits over the past few decades. I find this absolution of responsibility and type of behavior disgusting ("but the market reports say the people want bigger, BIGGER!"). But what do you expect? The corporations are ALL doing it. Anything to lower expenses or boost profits -- ANYTHING.

I guess we'll have to fall into the same old cycle of public pressure-->government regulation-->corporate compliance all over again until things look rosier economically for the car manufacturers and the regulations are loosened and the car manufacturers can go back to doing things in the same old wasteful ways. We never learn a fucking thing.

It's very disheartening that the consuming public is so myopic in our views that we can't collectively force the car companies to adopt new efficient technologies without government intervention. The ones that look for improvements are always in the minority because these changes are always considered risky, expensive, and disruptive, yet almost always end up in reality being a net positive undertaking. Why can't we ever learn that? It's like we can't monitor and control our own behaviors and actions properly so we need the babysitter to do it for us and then someone else to blame when things don't turn out as expected. Well, what do you expect from a society of self-centred, sociopathic, immature babies? Self-actualization, responsibility and civility? Come on....get real!