A written ruling issued by a federal judge in the Northern District of California said it was not for courts to decide the extent to which car makers could be held accountable for producing harmful greenhouse gases.

"The Court finds that injecting itself into the global warming thicket at this juncture would require an initial policy determination of the type reserved for the political branches of government," Judge Martin Jenkins wrote.

California's former attorney-general Bill Lockyer filed the lawsuit in September last year seeking damages from General Motors, Ford, Toyota, DaimlerChrysler and the US subsidiaries of Honda and Nissan.

The lawsuit was the first of its kind seeking to hold manufacturers liable for damage allegedly caused by greenhouse gases produced by their vehicles.

The suit charged that carmakers had created a public nuisance by producing "millions of vehicles that collectively emit massive quantities of carbon dioxide," a greenhouse gas that causes global warming.

"Global warming has already injured California, its environment, its economy, and the health and well-being of its citizens," the lawsuit alleged.

However in granting the automakers' motion to dismiss, Judge Jenkins said the case could only proceed if the court issued a ruling as to an acceptable level of carbon dioxide emissions -- something it was not able to do.

"The court is left to make an initial decision as to what is unreasonable in the context of carbon dioxide emissions," Jenkins said.

"Such an exercise would require the Court to create a quotient or standard in order to quantify any potential damages that flow from defendants' alleged act of contributing 30 percent of California's carbon dioxide emissions."

California officials indicated said they were disappointed with the decision and said they could still lodge an appeal.

"Obviously, we're very disappointed with the ruling, and we're going to read it very carefully," supervising deputy attorney general Ken Alex told AFP.

"We certainly have the ability to file an appeal with the Ninth Circuit and that will be a part of our calculation."

Alex said California had felt obliged to launch the legal action because of the failure of federal authorities to set more stringent standards over emissions.

"We do think that because the federal government has failed to act, this is a judicial obligation to jump in there where those entities have failed to act," he said.

California, the richest and most populous US state, has more than 35 million people and some 32 million registered vehicles. The biggest metropolitan area, Los Angeles, usually tops the list of the most polluted US cities.

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