California and 23 other states sue Trump to stop ban on auto emissions standards

California and 23 other states have filed a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration from blocking California’s authority to set emission standards for cars and trucks, making good on promises to fight the administration’s decision in court.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) formally announced Thursday that it would revoke the state’s waiver under the Clean Air Act to exceed the national standards by requiring even more efficient cars. The EPA has planned since last year to ease emissions standards for cars and trucks, saying that a timeline put in place by Barack Obama set standards “too high”.

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“California won’t bend to the president’s reckless and politically motivated attacks on our clean car waiver,” said Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, in a statement. “We’ll hold the line in court to defend our children’s health, save consumers money at the pump and protect our environment.”

Thirteen other states and Washington DC follow, in whole or in part, the standards set by California. A revocation of California’s waiver would affect these jurisdictions as well.

Last year, California led 17 states and Washington DC in suing the EPA over the rollback of emissions standards, arguing that the agency “acted arbitrarily and capriciously” in overturning the Obama administration’s decision. At the time, California’s waiver was still in place, though the agency indicated that it planned to withdraw it.

“Two courts have already upheld California’s emissions standards, rejecting the argument the Trump administration resurrects to justify its misguided preemption rule. Yet, the administration insists on attacking the authority of California and other states to tackle air pollution and protect public health,” said Xavier Becerra, the California attorney general, in a statement. “Mr President, we’ll see you in court.”

The lawsuit, filed against the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Friday, alleges that for decades: “Congress has preserved California’s authority to adopt vehicle emissions standards and relied on those standards as a model for the federal government and for other states.” In revoking the waiver, the administration ignores a state’s authority set by Congress, the lawsuit states.

The EPA administrator, Andrew Wheeler, said in a statement that the decision to revoke California’s waiver ensures nationwide rules that provide “much-needed regulatory certainty for the automotive industry”.

Under California’s standards, more than 2m zero-emission vehicles are projected to be on the road by 2025, reducing greenhouse emissions by more than 66m metric tons per year by 2030, according to the lawsuit.

Friday’s lawsuit marks the 60th time Californiahas sued the Trump administration. The state has battled Trump on a number of different issues, on everything from immigration to the state’s high-speed rail project. Trump, who rarely visits the state, was in California this week, when he claimed that the EPA was issuing San Francisco an environmental violation notice for its homeless population polluting the ocean with hypodermic needles and waste through the sewer system – an allegation that city officials said was false.