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http://www.msnbc.com/news/793026.asp
Ford may join emissions suit
California officials expected automaker to cooperate
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
DETROIT, Aug. 12 � Ford Motor Co. said it still may
participate in an auto industry lawsuit over California�s
new clean-air law, startling California officials who
believed Ford�s chairman was willing to cooperate with the
state.
THE WASHINGTON TRADE GROUP
representing Ford and most other major auto makers said it
expects to file suit against California regulators to try to
block the new law, which makes California the first state to
limit auto emissions of so-called greenhouse gases,
including carbon dioxide.
William Clay Ford Jr. on Wednesday said he wanted to tone
down the battle over the new law. The Ford chairman told
reporters at an auto-industry conference in Michigan that he
wants �to lower the temperature a little bit and lower the
rhetoric in California and work toward trying to get a
reasonable solution� as California regulators fill in the
details of the law. The initial conciliatory comments drew
quick praise from California Gov.
Gray Davis, who recently signed the greenhouse-gas measure
into law despite opposition from the auto industry. �I am
encouraged by Bill Ford�s willingness to cooperate with
California to achieve the important goal of reducing
greenhouse gases,� Mr. Davis said in a prepared statement
Thursday. �We believe this is a win- win situation for the
auto industry, the environment and our children.�
The greenhouse-gas law is set to take effect with 2009
model-year vehicles. Because carbon dioxide is produced when
fuel burns in an internal-combustion engine, the most
logical way to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions is to make a
vehicle go farther on a gallon of gas. The auto industry
fears that this solution would force auto makers to
re-engineer profitable but fuel-thirsty sport-utility
vehicles and pickup trucks.
But after Gov. Davis issued his praise, Mr. Ford�s
subordinates scrambled to clarify that the company still
objects to the law � and still may join a suit that is
expected to be filed by the Alliance of Automobile
Manufacturers. Ford spokeswoman Francine Romine said the
auto maker shares the trade group�s position that regulating
carbon-dioxide emissions is akin to regulating fuel economy,
a power reserved for the federal government under U.S. law.
She said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
currently is studying by how much to raise the federal
fuel-economy standard for light trucks � SUVs, pickups and
minivans � and she said Ford believes California should
leave the matter in the hands of the NHTSA.
Ms. Romine said that although Ford hasn�t made a final
decision, it may well participate in a suit by the alliance.
�We are committed to improving fuel economy,� she said. �We
are committed to reducing carbon dioxide. But at the end of
the day, we cannot live with state-by- state legislation.�
An alliance spokeswoman said Ford officials late last week
made clear that, despite Mr. Ford�s comments, the company
still supports the industry�s intention to sue over the
California law.
But the perceived turnaround by Ford had Davis officials
crying foul. �We certainly hope it�s not empty rhetoric,
Davis spokesman Steven Maviglio said, referring to Mr.
Ford�s initial comments. �When you say tone things down but
there�s nothing behind it, that�s not necessarily a good
sign.� As for California�s governor, �I think he�d be
disappointed if a CEO of a company says one thing and does
another,� Mr. Maviglio added. �This is a chance for Bill
Ford to prove he�s an environmentalist and break the mold of
everyone in Detroit.� So what exactly did Mr. Ford mean when
he said he wanted to work cooperatively with California
environmental regulators? Said Ms. Romine: �I don�t know
what he meant by tone down the rhetoric.�
Copyright � 2002 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights
Reserved.
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