Question: Suppose the California legislature passes a law that severely restricts carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles in that state. A group of automobile manufacturers file suit against the state of California to prevent the enforcement of the law. The automakers claim that a federal law already sets fuel economy standards nationwide and that these standards are essentially the same as carbon dioxide emission standards. According to the automobile manufacturers, it is unfair to allow California to impose more stringent regulations than those set by the federal law. Using the information presented in the chapter, answer the following questions.
1 Who are the parties (the plaintiffs and the defendant) in this lawsuit?
2 Are the plaintiffs seeking a legal remedy or an equitable remedy? Why?
3 What is the primary source of the law that is at issue here?
4 Read through the appendix that follows this chapter, and then answer the following question: Where would you look to find the relevant California and federal laws?