From today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary:
Jerry Brown’s strategy to position himself as the leading Democratic candidate for governor of California hit a snag last month when a high-profile lawsuit by his office against car makers for causing global warming was tossed out of court.
U.S. District Judge Martin J. Jenkins of San Francisco declared that "policy decisions concerning the authority and standards for carbon dioxide emissions lie with the political branches of government, and not with the courts." He also noted, with some wit, that it would be virtually impossible for courts to allocate blame for purported climate change.
While it’s true Mr. Brown didn’t initiate the lawsuit — it was filed by then-Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who was running for another office last year — the former governor eagerly pursued the case once he took office last January. While as a candidate he had called the lawsuit’s claimed damages "speculative," he now quickly embraced it as "a solid case." Indeed, he upped the ante by threatening to sue local governments for their alleged failure to consider global warming in their approval of development plans.
Dan Walters, the Sacramento Bee columnist and dean of the press corps in California’s state capital, calls Mr. Brown’s sudden enthusiasm for global warming litigation both "cynical" and "classic Jerry Brown, who has always sought to exploit the currently trendy issue, whatever it might be." But at least one federal judge has decided to expose just how hollow his latest crusade is. Here’s hoping the voters also notice.
October 3rd, 2007 at 12:00 am
A majority of San Bernardino County’s Board of Supervisors voted to give in to Governor Moonbeam last month. He threatened them with a lawsuit and they capitulated. What a disgrace, but they got in Arnie’s good grace.