In his ruling, Judge Sessions said the industry failed to prove that the state standards were unattainable, that they usurp the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) prerogative to set fuel economy standards, and were preempted by federal authority.

The ruling came on the heels of an effort by the federal government to block California, and other states, from requiring that new, more stringent emission standards go into effect in 2009 models. The EPA blocked the California law in a contentious move that followed signing of the new energy bill in December of 2007.

I wrote about the action and urged all states involved that had followed California’s lead to file suit against the EPA to force their hand. You can read it here

California was the first to file suit, as outlined here.

California is awaiting resolution of their lawsuit in US District Federal Court in California.

This one is worth watching.

To read the case, it’s in PDF and you can access it at the Vermont Federal Court site.

(Case 2:05-CV-302 Green Mountain Chrysler-Plymouth-Dodge et al v. Crombie et al)

“It is unconscionable that the federal government is keeping California and 19 other states from adopting these standards. They are ignoring the will of millions of people who want their government to take action in the fight against global warming. That’s why, at the very first legal opportunity, we’re suing to reverse the US EPA’s wrong decision. By implementing these standards, California would be eliminating greenhouse gases equivalent to taking 6.5 million cars off the road by the year 2020.”

As I suggested in my “Open Challenge to California and all State Governments” of Dec. 20, 15 other states or state agencies are joining the action, including Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico and New York.

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