State Sues EPA Over Greenhouse Gas Regulations

California filed a lawsuit in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco today against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency following the latter’s Dec. 19 denial of the state’s request to impose greenhouse gas limits on automobiles. The state was the first in the nation to make such a request, which called for a waiver required under the federal Clean Air Act to begin monitoring greenhouse gas emissions from new automobiles. This marked the first time the EPA had refused to grant California a waiver under the Clean Air Act since Congress gave the state the right to obtain the waivers in 1967, the Associated Press reported. Because automakers had said the proposed limits would have left them no choice but to slash their body of vehicles and raise prices in states that had adopted the stricter limits, the EPA’s decision was considered a triumph for the automotive industry. At least 16 other states had been expected to adopt California’s tougher emission limits, the Associated Press reported. Twelve have already adopted the California emissions standards and will likely join the lawsuit.