Vicious Rants of an Angry Yellow Man

Chalk up another public official in California we need to get rid of. Attorney General Bill Lockyer either has no common sense or is courting leftist votes for a run at governor a few year after Arnold defeats his incompetent Democratic challenger Angelides. Lockyer has filed a suit against the largest automobile manufacturers seeking money for environmental damage caused by tailpipe emissions. I think the only people who agree that this lawsuit has merit are the extreme environmentalists and the trial lawyers. I do believe that fossil fuels is a major cause of environmental damage. But to blame the automakers is like blaming McDonalds for causing you to get fat. Obviously, there are people who are actually suing McDonalds also. It is another example of people won't take responsibilities for their own actions but blame others. Nobody forces you to eat a hamburger and the automakers are not forcing anyone to buy a car. Certainly the popularity of gas guzzlers like suvs are what is driving Detroit to produce poor mileage autos. If we actully demand cars that get high mileage, those cars will be produced.

Automakers only produce the cars. If nobody drives them, the cars don't pollute. So it is not the automakers who foul up the environment but each 0f us. I think Lockyer does drive a car himself so he is also responsible for fouling the environment. It would make more sense to penalize the actual polluters, which is all of us, by increasing the taxes of gasoline as I have suggested before. (See blog dated 4/26/06) Of course that would be immensely unpopular and Lockyer would not be elected to office again. By trying to stick it to companies with deep pocket, Lockyer thinks that he will increase his popularity. Ultimately, it is us who pay for this foolishness. The state has already lost a nuisance suit against electric power plant operators but is appealing. All these nuisance lawsuits cause the taxpayers money and will result in no benefit to us. It will cause the automakers money to defend the suits and the expenses will be passed to consumers in higher prices for cars. If this lawsuit is somehow successful, I am going to sue the government for buying buses and actually run them.