Jerry Brown

The US federal government has for too long enabled the domestic automakers to keep up their inefficient and gas-guzzling ways and may now need to spend billions to bail them out. That's what California Attorney General Jerry Brown said yesterday as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on a lawsuit against supposedly weak federal fuel efficiency standards.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown has decided to pursue a lawsuit started last fall by his predecessor Bill Lockyer. The lawsuit accuses automakers of creating a public nuisance by emitting excessive amounts of greenhouse gases. Brown wants to force carmakers to change their business practices to be more environmentally conscious.