The following letter from Japanese and U.S. environmental organizations was sent to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on February 15, 2005

		in clean vehicles   Automakers v. The People Campaign

Prime Minister Koizumi:

We, the undersigned U.S. and Japanese organizations committed to significant international action addressing climate change would like to offer the government of Japan our sincere thanks and congratulations as the Kyoto Protocol on global warming emissions enters into force.  The fact that this treaty is imprinted with a Japanese city, and its nations represent over 60 percent of the world’s heat-trapping emissions is a testament to Japan’s leadership and determination on this vital health, environmental, economic, development and security issue.

With our kudos, however, comes a caution.  During Japan’s ratification of the protocol in 2002 you stated, “The Government of Japan is also aware of the fact that it is vital for all countries to make an effort to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to ensure the effectiveness of actions against global warming.” The major Japanese automakers, including Toyota, Honda, and Nissan, are directly controverting that statement, having joined in a lawsuit designed to block California’s new global warming emission standards on automobiles—the most significant current U.S. climate change initiative.  Because other states may adopt California auto standards and at least eight are already poised to do so, the California law will affect at minimum a quarter of the U.S. auto market, resulting in substantial reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.

Given that the United States is the world’s single largest source of heat-trapping emissions, these automakers’ actions seem especially egregious.  Japanese auto sales account for 33 percent of the California auto market, representing nearly one million metric tons of carbon emitted per year. More than 80 percent of Californians surveyed support the global warming regulations.  Automakers can cost-effectively comply with the new California regulations with “off-the-shelf” technologies, thereby providing even better clean car choices to the growing chorus of U.S. consumers not only in California, but around this country as well. Instead they are ignoring the very customers from whom they profit, and using their lawyers to stymie this precedent-setting initiative rather than their engineers to help make it a success.

Not only do the actions taken by these corporations undermine Japan’s international reputation as a leader in addressing climate change, but so too could the California regulations bolster the Japanese government’s latitude to address its Kyoto obligations through the automotive sector.  Given the U.S. has previously threatened to challenge any new Japanese regulations of that sort at the World Trade Organization, the implementation of the California regulations would reduce U.S. standing to challenge similar initiatives in Japan.

These corporations should not be allowed to sully Japan’s international reputation as a climate change leader.  We therefore respectfully urge you to make an immediate and sustained appeal to Japanese corporations engaged in this anti-consumer, anti-environment, anti-public health lawsuit to remove themselves at once.  It is unfortunate enough that automakers such as General Motors and Chrysler are continuing their three-decades long history of blocking any significant safety or efficiency, or environmental mandates in the U.S. automotive sector.  It would be a shame if Japanese automakers through this lawsuit were lumped in to that category, thereby casting a dark shadow not only on their companies, but on Japan’s overall reputation as a climate change leader.

Sincerely,

Michio Hino
CEO, World Wide Fund for Nature, Japan

Masaaki Nakajima
Climate Change Campaigner, Greenpeace Japan

Yuri Onodera
Climate Change Programme, Friends of the Earth, Japan

Steven Kirsch
Chairman, Steven and Michele Kirsch Foundation

V. John White
Executive Director, Center for Energy Efficient and Renewable Technologies

Jose Carmona
Clean Power Campaign

Jason Mark
Director, Clean Vehicles Program,
Union of Concerned Scientists

John Passcantando,
Executive Director, Greenpeace USA

Russell Long
Executive Director, Bluewater Network