You folks may not think its about five minutes until midnight of the SECOND MUSCLE CAR ERA, but this item ought to wake you up:

www.autonews.com SAN FRANCISCO [a/k/a that nut-job City-by-the-Bay]-- California today sued six of the world's largest automakers, including General Motors and Toyota Motor Corp., over global warming, charging that greenhouse gases from their vehicles have caused billions of dollars in damages.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Northern California was the first of its kind to seek to hold manufacturers liable for the damages caused by their vehicles' emissions, state Attorney [DEMOCRAT] General Bill Lockyer said.

The lawsuit seeks monetary damages for past and ongoing contributions to global warming . . . [noting that] California is spending millions to deal with reduced snow pack, beach erosion, ozone pollution, and the impact on endangered animals and fish.

Lockyer -- a Democratic candidate for state treasurer in the November election -- [SEE KIDS, IT DOES MATTER WHO WINS ELECTIONS] said the lawsuit states that under federal and state common law the automakers have created a public nuisance by producing 'millions of vehicles that collectively emit massive quantities of carbon dioxide.'"

WILL CAR CRAFT BE NEXT? 

After all, Car Craft actively promotes MORE burning of fossil fuels, yielding "tons" more of that "demon gas" carbon dioxide--which the liberal Democrats in the California legislature and Cali's crusading Democrat Attorney General have already declared "create[s] a public nuisance by . . . emit[ting] massive quantities of carbon dioxide.'

Why Freiburger's personal fleet alone probably accounts for several tons of that wretched gaseous evil CO2 "spewed" into the Golden State's overheated atmosphere!

Sure, CC will plead the First Amendment--Just like "High Times" and and all the PORNO mags do when spotlighted for promoting public nuisance behaviors-- but can the First Amendment protect CC's  magazine project cars from some Anti-C02 gunslinger like Democrat Attorney General Bill Lockyer?  (okay so the Great Speckled Firebird, the Turbo 5.0 and the Disco Nova don't really emit much CO2 sitting around the CC shops, but you get the idea . . . .)

And even if CC somehow escapes, what will happen to its advertisers in the performance aftermarket?  Aren't they contributing to "a public nuisance by [helping scores of Car Crafters to]  emit massive quantities of carbon dioxide?" 

(Of course CC can always start running more "male enhancement" ads like they did when the tobacco buys went away because of similar lawsuits)

Perhaps the best grassroots solution is for CC and all Car Crafters to start boycotting California.  Just load up the ol' CC moving van like Nissan and Buckaroo Communications did and head East (toward the SANE part of the USA).  And for all 49-state Car Crafters out there, just don't travel to Cali unless absolutely necessary.

It's worth some thought.

http://speedzzter.blogspot.com

I think the Democrats breathing and running their mouths off emit too much CO2 and are much more a public nuisance.  I doubt the lawsuit will hold in court, especially trying to collect money for the older car's pollution (if you consider CO2  pollution, last I checked the trees love it).  And CO2 still isn't perfectly linked to Global Warming (there are literally dozens of other causes). I just wrote the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration the other day because an article just came out saying Global Warming (in the form of El Nino) is disrupting hurricanes (instead of causing more of them like they said last year). Believe me even the NOAA isn't sure the Earth is getting warmer, nor are they sure what the effects are if it is.  Ok, that was a little rant, but the point is legally linking CO2 to global warming will be tough because certainly the high priced lawyers that the automakers will hire will find more than enough climatologist to disagree about CO2 causing global warming (as a geologist I have talked to a fair share).  Also as a geologist I sometimes wish the San Andreas would be a little more active, namely in the North... (sorry you fellow car crafters up and around there, but fix the damn politics there, not that it would change when and where the San Andreas will move next).  

I find it funny that scientists can make statements about theories as if they are fact. By definition, a theory is a hypothesis that has yet to be proven. To make conclusions on why the earth is warming based on only the last 115 years of weather documentation is purely wishful thinking. Especially, since the earth has been around for billions and has gone through hundreds of weather cycles. The global warming could be just as likey from the fact we are still coming out of the last ice age.

Blaming cars for all the smog in this country is nice ploy. It's amazing how no one ever talks about the polution caused by electricity producing plants burning train loads of coal every day. Burning coal to fire steam turbines to move electric generators is ancient technology. This is how they powered the Titantic for Petes sake! Why don't they just burn tires as well?

Don't be too sure about the politics of polluting the environment. I love to ride my snowmobile in the winter time. The greenies have managed to get the manufacturers to make improvements to the emmissions from snowmobiles with government support (Clinton Administration) as well as have had trails closed in national parks because the excessive noise disturbs the animals. The emmissions improvements have made for better more reliable (and powerful) snowmobiles, but it has also driven the price up considerably.

Most of this is driven from California and the bulk of snowmobiles are ridden in the mid west. There are way less snowmobiles polluting the environment than there is muscle cars. My two stroke 800 cc snowmobile gets 10 miles to the gallon and my Chevelle gets 3 to 4 MPG. It would not surprise me if this becomes an issue some day.

The real threat is that these sorts of high profile lawsuits will drive public opinion,  and then Congress to pass restrictions aimed at reducing carbon output.

Imagine how much fun Car Crafting will be in 10 or 20 years if:

• Fuel economy standards become so high that no LSxs, Modulars, Hemis or any other V8s can be produced by the factories. 


• OEMs can all V8 crate engines and parts out of fear of "carbon" litigation.


• Draconian "carbon use" taxes (sort of like the punitive cigarette taxes smokers now routinely pay under the various "tobacco lawsuit settlements") on gasoline, gasoline-burning equipment and the replacement parts for such equipment  are enacted to curb "excess" emissions.  (Farfetched? I just read Al Gore is now pushing a "carbon use" tax as a replacement for payroll taxes!)  


• Harsh "clunker" legislation is passed, aimed at clearing the roads of C02-emitting "old" cars and drying up parts supplies for them. 


• Increased state- or industry-sponsored "crusher" programs (such as UNOCAL's infamous one) are instituted in settlement of the lawsuits.


• Increased restrictions on registering "kit" and "continuation" cars (such as the "new" '69 Camaros built from Chinese unibody stampings or even "new" '32 Ford street rods) are enacted to force people into state-approved, factory-built economy cars.


• Competition for the shrinking number of "collector" cars drives prices even higher than they already are today.


• Lawyers and regulators begin turning their focus on extorting payments from racing venues, tuners and aftermarket supply companies for "carbon pollution."


• More force-fed propaganda in the schools about the harms that motorsports and "gas guzzlers" (i.e. performance cars and race-car tow vehicles) cause the environment (as if it couldn't get any worse)

All of these scenarios are foreseeable if this sort of California/Kyoto CO2 madness takes hold.

The second big threat is that these lawsuits will force the automakers   to settle them by pledging to cut fun cars like the Shelby GT500, the Mustang GT,  the Z06 and other Corvettes,  the SRT-8s and 10s, the new Challenger,  the new Camaro,  and anything else that smacks of "excessive" carbon emissions.  

Without new performance cars (that someday become more affordable USED cars and create a trickle-down of parts in the aftermarket), the whole Car Crafting movement takes  huge steps back to the days when the automakers didn't offer anything interesting or helpful to performance enthusiasts.

well hell, why dont they sue the people who make a/c and the people who had cfc's in their cans. the dumbasses, there is no way they will win.  

the Turbo 5.0 and the Disco Nova don't really emit much CO2 sitting around the CC shops, but you get the idea . .

see, thats EXACLTY the loophole that was used to allow us Californians to get by with the smog exempt status that we have now. vehicles produced model year 1975 and earlier are exempt from vehicle emissions testing, which is largely in part of why CC and other CA based magazines out here take those on as project vehicles.

the vehicles that are exempted from testing are not as often driven on a daily basis and therefore not out spewing their garbage every day on the road.

is CA perfect? no. its true that if you have a newer car that isnt exempt that its a pain to deal with. but for the older vehicles, there has been alot of progress made. if its not true, doesnt alot of the country still have to deal with smogging late 60s/early 70s  cars? if so, i feel sorry for you guys.

didn't somebody try to sue a gun maker because their guns were responsible for however many murders...isn't this basically the same thing.  I'm pretty sure that lawsuit lost because it is not the manufacturer's fault if people misuse the equipment they provide.  Same thing here.  Its not GM's fault that people drive gas guzzling SUV's 30,000 miles a year...

the other thing...where does this money go if they win?  Cuz this technically affects everyone on the planet...so whatever the settlement is should be spread among every single person on the planet.  

Since when does a state bring on a lawsuit?  thats a great use of tax money....

correction to that. driving a gas guzzling SUV doesnt mean it emits more than any other vehicle. it just wastes more gas than others.  

I was referring more to the driving 30000 miles a year...but I also wouldn't have guessed that a SUV would not emit more than a car...I thought they had different emission laws concerning them.  

    This whole smog/greenhouse gas issue is just a huge cash-cow/pork barrel, for the career politicians to run their greedy hands thru. The more they whine... the more "funding" they get. This whole issue is rediculous, just like the "clean Air" crap we are to deal with here in PA... Since air is ever-moving, predominantly from west to east... we are getting smog from Detroit and Pittsburg... (not to mention also from very dirty/polluting countries, like china and eastern europe..) but WE are the ones who need to "clean up our act"... and naturally, in the end the small guys .. (us).. get the shaft. There is even a huge paper mill near here spewing TONS of those dreaded "gasses" into the air 365/yr... but they are "allowed", (likely thru "payoffs.."). The issue with the "greenhouse gas/holes in the ozone" is just plain stupid.. the "holes" over the poles are actually closing, as this is part of the natural cycles of the planet.  Just think of the loss of the rainforest and it's effect on our natural O2 supply... why don't they stop that, instead of constantly hammering the regular people. Welcome to the global plantation....  

i dont disagree with your point, i do believe that we need people in office that will grow a pair and stand up for peoples rights in general. it was funny, i was reading a 1996ish issue of Popular Hot Rodding i had laying around in a pile and the editorial was about how oppressive and controlling the government had gotten. how it was the most oppressive it had ever been. well, to look back and see where we are now....  

What a load of wank!

I'm sick of all these arseholes going on about how my old car burns too much fuel. They're the same arseholes that are driving around in brand new toyotas/audis etc that have just caused a huge amount of polution just from the manufacturing process.

Ever noticed how Environmental lobyists and the like seem to be able to travel all over the world by plane?

Bunch of *** class="sig">

rust never sleeps

I feel that if they want to go through with this lawsuit then they should practice what they preach. Cars are the root of the problem then they should walk everywhere they go. I suppose they could also use a rowboat  if they make it with their own two hands, But I find it hippoccritical to sue the automanufacturers and then still use their cars.