- California sues six carmakers over global warming -

LOS ANGELES: California said on Wednesday that it was suing six US and Japanese automakers for their alleged contribution to global warming, the first such legal fight in the United States.

"Global warming is causing significant harm to California's environment, economy, agriculture and public health. The impacts are already costing millions of dollars, and the price tag is increasing," Attorney General Bill Lockyer said after filing suit Tuesday in US District Court.

"Vehicle emissions are the single most rapidly growing source of the carbon emissions contributing to global warming, yet the federal government and automakers have refused to act. It is time to hold these companies responsible for their contribution to this crisis," he said.

The companies named in the complaint are the Chrysler Motors Corporation, an arm of DaimlerChrysler based in Germany; General Motors Corporation; Ford Motor Company; and the North American subsidiaries of Japanese carmakers Honda Motor, Nissan Motor and Toyota Motor.

These carmakers are "among the world's largest contributors to global warming and the adverse impacts on California," the suit charges.

The suit is the first of its kind seeking to hold manufacturers liable for damages allegedly caused by greenhouse gases produced by their vehicles.

The companies named in the suit, contacted for a response, referred the reporter to The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which as of Wednesday night had not returned a call.

California, the richest and most populous US state, has more than 35 million people and some 32 million registered vehicles. The biggest metropolitan area, Los Angeles, usually tops the list of the most polluted US cities.

Authorities in California, led by Republican actor-turned-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, have broken with US President George W Bush on environmental issues. Schwarzenegger has said he will sign greenhouse gas-reducing legislation making California the first US state to commit to adhering to the Kyoto Protocol.

The Kyoto Protocol sets out measures for tackling greenhouse gas pollution.

Schwarzenegger, writing in an opinion piece published Wednesday in the British newspaper The Independent, said the world should look to California, and not the US government, for leadership on finding solutions to global warming.

"There are some issues in the world that are simply so compelling ... that they demand us to put aside our partisan differences and attack them head on," Schwarzenegger wrote in an article entitled "Look to California, not the US, on global warming."

"Because the federal government in Washington has not led on this issue, we in California are determined to move our state, nation and even the world forward in the fight against global warming," the governor wrote.

Schwarzenegger and British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced in July that California and Britain would work more closely to tackle the environmental and economic consequences of climate change.

The governor was set to sign this month a landmark bill to cap greenhouse gas emissions, making California the first US state to limit carbon dioxide and other gases accused of contributing to global warming.

The California suit filed Wednesday charges that carmakers have created a public nuisance by producing "millions of vehicles that collectively emit massive quantities of carbon dioxide," a greenhouse gas that traps atmospheric heat and causes global warming.

"Global warming has already injured California, its environment, its economy, and the health and well-being of its citizens," the lawsuit charges.

"California is responding to the ongoing impacts and the inevitable additional future impacts of global warming. The state is spending millions of dollars on planning, monitoring, and infrastructure changes to address a large spectrum of current and anticipated impacts."