Carmakers to Calif. attorney general: drop suit

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Six major automakers told new California Attorney General Jerry Brown that their lawyers were ready to discuss improving vehicle fuel efficiency but that he should dismiss the state’s greenhouse gas damage suit.

But the automakers so far have given no indication that they will drop the industry’s suit against California’s tailpipe emissions rules.

Brown, on February 1, sent a letter to the heads of the major automakers to resolve the suit started in September by former Attorney General Bill Lockyer. He said he wanted to meet with the chief executives “to discuss resolution of our pending litigation and moving forward cooperatively.”

The suit, which the auto industry has called a “nuisance” action, charged that greenhouse gases from the automakers’ vehicles were causing climate change costing hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to California.

Yahoo