The U.N.'s latest global warming report is being spun as a wake-up
call. But whether or not you agree on the need for urgent action, it
ought to be obvious that the absolute last branch of government that
should set climate policy is the courts. As usual, California Attorney
General Jerry Brown has his own ideas.

At issue is a federal lawsuit filed last September by Mr. Brown's
predecessor, Bill Lockyer, asking for billions of dollars worth of
damages to be levied against six automakers -- General Motors, Toyota,
Ford, Honda, Nissan and Chrysler -- because their products allegedly
create a common-law "nuisance" by contributing to global warming.

At the time most observers, Mr. Brown included, appeared to regard the
move as an election-year stunt. But now that he's in office, Mr. Brown
has decided to pursue the case, which he says rests on "sound legal
doctrine." Because "no federal statute speaks directly to the
particular problem of global warming," says California's recent
response to the carmakers' motion for dismissal, ". . . federal common
law applies."

Uh-huh. We don't want to give Governor Brown any ideas, but if making
a legal product that might contribute to global warming is an
actionable offense, why stop with the automakers? How about the
publisher of the Los Angeles Times, which deprives the world of a
"carbon sink" (aka a tree) to create its daily product? Or how about
cattle ranchers, whose flatulent herds emit massive amounts of methane
before they become steaks on your dinner table? Methane is a far more
potent greenhouse gas than CO2.

In short, there's scarcely any economic activity imaginable that
doesn't somehow affect the balance of greenhouse gases, which is why a
"nuisance" complaint against any single industry doesn't make sense.
It's also why the judiciary has so far wisely refused to get drawn
into this kind of blame game. A New York federal district court has
already rejected an attempt by Mr. Lockyer and others to hold the
utility industry responsible for global warming, saying it would be
wrong "to impose by judicial fiat" CO2 regulations that "Congress and
the Executive" have considered and declined to impose.

In any case, as global warming alarmists never tire of reminding us,
any serious attempt to control greenhouse gas levels would have to be
an international one. That means the primary Constitutional
responsibility for the issue lies with the President, who negotiates
treaties. Congress, which regulates automobile mileage and other
tailpipe emissions, is also free to pass unilateral CO2 caps if it
wishes. That it has so far decided not to do so may be a source of
angst to some people. But it's hardly an excuse for an end-run by an
ambitious state attorney general around the country's system of
environmental regulation.

Given the existence of the Clean Air Act and many other environmental
rules, it's preposterous for California to invoke the common law as if
Congress had never considered the issue. Or as the Environmental
Protection Agency has written by way of explaining why we'd need a
national approach to the alleged problem: "[I]t is hard to imagine any
issue in the environmental arena having greater 'economic and
political significance' than regulation of activities that might lead
to global climate change."

If environmentalists want the U.S. political system to do something
about CO2 emissions, a good place to start would be convincing a
majority of Americans that they are serious people with serious
concerns. California's attempt to single out automakers -- which gives
a whole new meaning to the term "junk lawsuit" -- is not helping their
case.

On 6/02/07 10:56, in article
[email protected] om, "Earl Evleth"
<[email protected]> wrote:


More of Piggy's hot air forging using my name

>
> The U.N.'s latest global warming report is being spun as a wake-up
> call.

PIGGY IS STILL ASLEEP DREAMING JUNK SCIENCE.

Shut up evleth, no one cares about your jiggies and your piggies.
Duh.

"Earl Evleth" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le message de news:
C1EE1D17.CFEB3%[email protected]...
> On 6/02/07 10:56, in article
> [email protected] om, "Earl Evleth"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
> More of Piggy's hot air forging using my name
>
>>
>> The U.N.'s latest global warming report is being spun as a wake-up
>> call.
>
> PIGGY IS STILL ASLEEP DREAMING JUNK SCIENCE.
>