Take Action: Tell the auto industry to innovate, not litigate

Tell the auto industry to innovate, not litigate

The five largest car companies have filed a lawsuit to block California's landmark "clean cars" bill from taking effect. Tell the companies to call off their lawyers and call in their engineers.

Mr. G. Richard Wagoner, Jr.
Mr. Hideaki Otaka
Mr. Juergen E. Schrempp
Mr. Koichi Kondo
Mr. William Clay Ford, Jr.

Dear Chief Executive Officer,

(Edit Letter Below)

I am very disappointed to hear about your company's lawsuit to stop progress on an issue of critical importance to our health, our economy and our environment -- the urgent need to cut global warming pollution.

Global warming is happening. We're already seeing the polar ice caps melting and changes in habitat with deadly consequences for many animal and plant species. If that's not enough, global warming will worsen smog, triggering more asthma attacks and hospitalizations.

Cars and trucks make up the second largest source of global warming pollution, sending heat-trapping emissions into the air for decades to come.

For more than 40 years, California has led the nation and the world in creating sound, sensible air pollution standards -- leadership that has long been acknowledged in federal clean air laws. That's why more than 80 percent of Californians backed the world's first law designed to reduce automotive global warming emissions when it passed three years ago. The new performance standards are supposed to phase in starting in 2009, giving you ample time to deploy new technology. But instead of stepping up to meet the challenge, your company and others have gone to court to try to block the law.

You have the know-how and technology to fix the global warming problem. Smart engineering such as cylinder deactivation and continuously variable transmissions are available today to build cleaner cars and trucks that get us where we're going with less pollution.

As a consumer, I urge you to call off your lawyers and use your resources to innovate, not litigate. Withdraw your company from the litigation blocking California's pioneering safeguard.

Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address]

Sincerely,

Your signature will be added from the information you provide below.

Taken action before? Just enter your email address and click send. First time taking action? All fields below are required to send your message.

Complete the following to send this message and sign-up to receive periodic updates. If you have participated before, just type in your email address then submit the form. Email:* Title (prefix): First Name:* Last Name:* Address Line 1:* Address Line 2: City:* State/ Province: ZIP/Postal Code:* Country:* Yes, I would like to receive a copy of this letter * Required Field
Yes! I want to receive environmental updates and calls to action from NRDC!