SACRAMENTO -- A conservative public interest legal group today called on California Attorney General Jerry Brown to drop predecessor Bill Lockyer's lawsuit against major automakers over greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The lawsuit, filed last October, alleges that the "big six" automakers created a "public nuisance" by making and selling cars that continued to emit GHGs into California's atmosphere. The suit seeks an unspecified amount in damages.

Included in Lockyer's suit are General Motors, Ford, Daimler-Chrysler, Toyota, Honda and Nissan.

Two prominent members of Sacramento-based Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) today referred to the action as "the state's most frivolous lawsuit" because of widespread legal uncertainty over the definition of "public nuisance."

PLF vice-president David Stirling and attorney Timothy Sandefur also called on the state Congress, rather than judges, to make rulings on automobile regulation.

Lockyer's lawsuit, if successful, could cost California "billions of dollars and untold numbers of jobs," the two wrote in an opinion piece published in today's San Francisco Chronicle.

Affirming that vehicle-makers created a public nuisance "has the potential of swallowing up...virtually every lawful business in the state," they added.

Attorney General Jerry Brown might just be receptive to such a plea. He has already signaled a willingness to discuss with automakers global warming issues like future vehicle emissions. Observers say such statements signal his willingness to settle the suit.

In light of his apparent refocus on the future, Brown now "has the chance to set a forward-looking, reasonable tone for business in the state," Stirling and Sandefur wrote. Brown as California governor in the seventies placed caps on some medical malpractice payouts, they noted.

"He could do nothing better to signal such a new era of reform than to dismiss the state's most frivolous lawsuit," the pair concluded.

Stirling and Sandefur recently submitted a "friend of the court" brief in Lockyer's suit against the big six for a motion to dismiss. The case is due for hearing in Sacramento on March 6.