With the damage award he won from Ford, Harris installed a roll-in shower and wheelchair lift in his house, hired a caretaker to help him dress each morning, and modified a van so he could continue as pastor of Olivet United Methodist Church.
Without the lawsuit, he said, "I would not be able to do the things I'm able to do." If automakers are immune, Harris said, "where is the check and balance going to be for them?"
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Within days of its roof-crush proposal, the highway safety agency again backed the auto industry in challenging California's efforts to cut emissions.
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers had gone to court to stop the state Air Resources Board from regulating tailpipe emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, contending the rule was preempted.
Because carbon dioxide emissions drop when less fuel is burned, the industry attacked the rule as a backdoor attempt to regulate fuel economy -- under federal law, the exclusive domain of the highway safety agency.
The agency agreed. On Aug. 23, it issued new mileage standards for light trucks, saying that its authority over fuel economy meant that "a state law that seeks to reduce motor vehicle carbon dioxide emissions is ... preempted."
Industry lawyers filed papers the next day in U.S. District Court in Fresno informing the judge of the agency's position.
California's global warming rule, which would first apply to 2009 models, is not all that's at stake in the Fresno case. Ten states have copied California's emission rule, and all those rules could be wiped out if the industry wins.
Rosen's former law firm, Kirkland & Ellis, represents the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers in the suit to block California's global warming rule. The suit was filed in late 2004, a year after Rosen left the firm to join the Transportation Department.
Transportation spokesman Turmail said Rosen did not discuss the matter with the law firm. In considering the safety agency's position on the matter, Rosen acted in the government's interest, Turmail said.
Eleven U.S. senators from both parties and 29 House Democrats from California have urged Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta to reverse the agency's opposition to the emissions standard.
"Rather than attempting to thwart such state efforts, the federal government should encourage states to develop innovative solutions to serious public health and environmental problems," the senators wrote to Mineta in December.
