States Sue Trump Over Weakened Car-Mileage Standards

(Bloomberg) -- California and other states sued to stop the Trump administration from easing requirements on vehicle miles per gallon starting in 2021.

It’s the latest salvo by Democrat-led states to undo the federal government’s deregulatory efforts by using the courts. A final ruling in the dispute will impact the fate of the auto industry under stress from the U.S. economic shutdown, the fuel costs borne by Americans and pollution levels in the country.

The administration’s new rule, unveiled March 31, would require cars, trucks and SUVs to average roughly 40 miles per gallon from 2021 through 2026 as opposed to closer to 47 mpg under a standard proposed by President Barack Obama.

The lawsuit, which California officials said was filed Wednesday in Washington federal court, ramps up a legal war against President Donald Trump to preserve clean-car standards. It also sets the stage for a prolonged battle as America tackles a public health crisis amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Separately, environmental advocacy groups filed a complaint targeting Trump’s rewrite of a rule aimed at slashing carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles. Earlier this month, a libertarian group filed its own challenge, calling the revised national standards still too strict.

The administration’s effort violates the Clean Air Act, the states claim in the lawsuit. A final ruling in the dispute will impact the fate of the auto industry under stress from the U.S. economic shutdown, the fuel costs borne by Americans and pollution levels in the country.

“Just read the text of the rule and you will discover that it is a job-killer and public health hazard,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “It will increase costs to consumers and allow the emission of dangerous pollutants that directly threaten the health of our families.”

California and almost two dozen other states sued the Trump administration last year over its decision to strip California’s authority to make its own rules on tailpipe emissions.

Under the new rule, automakers will boost the fuel efficiency of new vehicles each year by a 1.5% fleet average starting in 2021. That’s a rollback of requirements for roughly 5% annual gains under rules charted during the Obama administration.

Ford Motor Co., Honda Motor Co., Volkswagen AG and BMW AG have already made a deal with California to meet rules that would be a compromise between Obama’s standards and Trump’s plans. Volvo Cars, owned by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, followed up news of the revised federal rules by joining the group of carmakers volunteering to meet California’s tougher standards.

Trump says his plan will make cars cheaper and slammed the car companies for agreeing to a higher standard.

Under Trump’s rules, the administration has calculated a $2,340 drop in overall average vehicle ownership costs for new vehicles.

But the states say the administration is using “fuzzy math” to justify the rule and its economic benefits.

“They are using voodoo mathematics to show these things add up,” Becerra said on a call with reporters. He also said the Trump administration “ignored warnings form its own EPA staff that the new rule has serious flaws.”

California says the state regulations on vehicle emissions have cut the amount of many pollution levels 75% to 99% in the past 50 years, avoiding 29,000 premature deaths each year. But rising temperatures in the future as a result of climate change will exacerbate the ozone problems, according to the state.

“There is a clear relationship between increasing temperature and increasing ozone concentrations,” the state says on its website.

New York Attorney General Letitia James called the change “reckless.”

Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia are joining California in the lawsuit. Those states accounted for roughly half of new-vehicle registrations in 2019, according to state-by-state breakdowns compiled by the National Auto Dealers Association. The California Air Resources Board, the cities of Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Denver also joined the coalition filing the suit, according to Becerra’s office.

California has set a higher bar for vehicle emissions than the Environmental Protection Agency since 1967 under the Clean Air Act. The new rules threaten California’s leadership role on climate change. The state has filed more than three dozen environment-related lawsuits against the Trump administration.

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