Nation in brief: GM urges against emissions limits

General Motors Corp. CEO Rick Wagoner urged a group of auto dealers Saturday to lobby against individual states trying to set their own limits on greenhouse gas emissions.

Wagoner, speaking to the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in San Francisco, said several states want to go beyond requirements passed by Congress.

If that happens and automakers must focus on state regulations, they won’t be able to focus as much on alternative fuel vehicles to reduce oil consumption and pollution, he said.

Salt Lake City

Gay Mormons seek talks with leader

A group of gay Mormons is seeking an unprecedented meeting with the new church president and his counselors, hoping to begin a conversation and find ways to address the concerns of its members.

Affirmation, with more than 2,000 gay, lesbian and transgender members, is not recognized by the church, which at one time labeled homosexuality as a problem that required help.

“Although there are many areas of hurt and disagreement that have separated us, there are many more areas on which we can find agreement, and in doing so, become a blessing in the lives of many of the Saints, both straight and gay,” the group wrote in its invitation to Thomas S. Monson last week.

Monson assumed leadership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Feb. 3 following the death of its previous president, Gordon B. Hinckley.

In the 1990s, the church was active politically in fighting same-sex marriage legislation nationwide. A church official signed a 2006 letter from religious groups asking Congress for a marriage amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

More recently, church leaders have softened their position, drawing a distinction between the feelings or inclinations of same-gender attraction, as they call it, and actions.