By Maxine Joselow and Lisa Friedman
The Trump administration on Thursday filed a new lawsuit against California over its strict limits on planet-warming pollution from cars, arguing that the restrictions would unlawfully force a rapid transition to electric vehicles in the state.
The suit comes roughly nine months after the Republican-controlled Congress moved to block California from banning sales of new gas-powered cars by 2035. It targets clean car rules that California has continued to enforce even after the congressional action and, if successful, could reverberate far beyond California. Across the country, 17 states representing more than a third of the American automobile market follow California’s lead on clean car standards.
“Gavin Newsom is determined to continue pushing Democrats’ radical E.V. fantasy — even if doing so is illegal,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement, referring to Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, a Democrat and frequent critic of President Trump.
Anthony Martinez, a spokesman for Governor Newsom, called the lawsuit “meritless.”
“While the Trump administration surrenders the future of the auto industry to China, California will continue competing globally to win the clean vehicle market,” Mr. Martinez said, adding, “This lawsuit is meritless, and we’re not backing down from this fight.”
Senator Alex Padilla, Democrat of California, said the lawsuit “could devastate the progress we’ve made in cleaning our air, reducing smog, and building healthier communities.”
The Trump administration has systematically moved to slash federal support for electric vehicles, which do not emit planet-warming pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency has erased limits on greenhouse gases from vehicle tailpipes, and Mr. Trump signed a law last year eliminating a tax credit of up to $7,500 that had been available to people who purchased a new electric car.
California is suing the Trump administration in federal court to defend its authority to ban sales of gas cars. In the meantime, the California Air Resources Board, the state’s air and climate regulator, has continued to enforce limits on greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.
In the lawsuit filed on Thursday, the Trump administration argued that California’s limits violated the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, which directed the federal government to set “uniform” clean car rules that applied to all 50 states.
Trump administration officials also argued on Thursday that California’s clean car rules were raising the prices of new vehicles, as the cost of living becomes a top concern for voters ahead of the midterm elections.
“Oppressive, expensive electric vehicle mandates drive up costs for American consumers and violate federal law,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “California is using unlawful policies from the last administration to create exorbitant costs for their citizens.”
Legal experts said that if the lawsuit was successful, California would no longer be able to set carbon dioxide emissions standards for vehicles. The state would still be allowed to set some pollution standards that are stricter than federal rules by obtaining a waiver under the Clean Air Act of 1970 from the Environmental Protection Agency, but only for air contaminants like carbon monoxide, lead, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide; not for carbon dioxide.
“I think this lawsuit is a serious threat to the California electric vehicle program,” said Jeffrey Holmstead, an energy lawyer with the firm Bracewell.
Margo Oge, who served as the top vehicle emissions regulator at the E.P.A. under three presidents, said she expected the case to go to the Supreme Court. She noted that, in 2007, a federal court rejected a similar argument made by the auto industry, which maintained that California was pre-empted from setting its own carbon dioxide standards.
“This is an old argument,” Ms. Oge said. But she said the lawsuit represented a major new attack on the ability of states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation now that the Trump administration has ended nearly all federal efforts.
Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, accounting for more than a third of total climate pollution.
Experts agree that stricter tailpipe pollution rules can raise prices on new cars. But over time, they can encourage automakers to make more efficient gas vehicles that burn less fuel and save drivers money at the pump in the long term.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents automakers in the United States, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Albert Gore, the executive director of the Zero Emission Transportation Association, a trade group representing electric vehicle-related companies, said the administration’s lawsuit could make the United States less competitive against China.
He noted that California represented 11 percent of all U.S. auto sales. In the third quarter of last year alone, Californians purchased 124,755 zero-emission vehicles, representing 29.1 percent of new car sales in the state. That was the highest quarter sales share ever reported in California.
“Today’s action introduces new uncertainty for businesses investing in the domestic supply chain to compete in the global E.V. market,” Mr. Gore said.
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