A federal judge has struck down the auto industry’s attempt to gut California’s greenhouse-gas emissions standards for vehicles. California’s law, which would cut vehicle emissions by some 30 percent by 2016, has been stalled due to the U.S. EPA’s denial of a waiver the state needs to implement it. However, the industry lawsuit sought to stop the emissions-reduction law from taking effect even if a new federal administration eventually granted the waiver. The auto industry has complained that the California rules would be far too expensive and would essentially create different fuel-economy rules for California and the 15 other states that intend to follow its lead. Some of the legal arguments that industry lawyers employed in the case earned particular scorn from the judge, who said of their suggested interpretation of a federal statue, “The interpretation requested is without support in law, logic, or grammar.” Ouch!
