"The Administration insists on attacking the authority of California and other states to tackle air pollution and protect public health," added California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.
BREAKING: Twenty-three states sue to stop Trump administration from revoking California's authority to set auto emission standards.
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 20, 2019
The lawsuit argues that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does not have the authority to revoke California's decades-old authority to set emission standards for cars and trucks. https://t.co/JUdrJ9hHsD
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 20, 2019
But under federal law, California had the right to ask for a waiver to permit tighter emission controls on new cars - and the state had been doing so for nearly 50 years.
A number of others states had joined in accepting those same requirements.
The Trump Administration argues there should only be a single national standard for emissions and gas mileage.
The change by the feds "will insure there is one - and only one - set of national fuel economy standards, as Congress mandated and intended," said Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao on Thursday.
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