The auto industry's lawsuit challenging California's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles was rejected Wednesday by a federal judge in Fresno. The auto industry claimed that federal law barred California from enforcing its own regulations. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has more.
U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Ishii held that the state's regulations did not in any way conflict with either federal fuel economy laws or with the President's power to conduct foreign policy. Emphasizing that the Clean Air Act expressly authorizes California to regulate emissions that affect human health and the environment, Judge Ishii found that Congress did not intend that this authority be restricted by federal fuel economy laws.
The ruling clears one of the hurdles in California's effort to regulate tailpipe emissions from cars, trucks and sports utility vehicles. Automakers sued the state over the tailpipe standards it approved in 2004, which would force automakers to build cars and light trucks that produce about 30 percent fewer greenhouse gases by 2016.
California Attorney General Jerry Brown called the ruling a major victory and a giant step forward for the state.
Ed Joyce, KPBS News.
