North Carolina joins lawsuit against Trump over California’s vehicle emissions rules

North Carolina has joined California and 22 other states in suing the Trump administration over its decision to end California’s ability to set its own standards for vehicle emissions.

California had a waiver that allowed it to impose requirements on greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles that are more stringent than the federal government’s. The Trump administration revoked the waiver last week, the Sacramento Bee and other media outlets reported. California and other states sued.

“Our office joined this lawsuit to support states’ authority to fight climate change and protect public health,” Laura Brewer, spokeswoman for North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, said in an email Tuesday.

Fourteen other states and the District of Columbia have adopted California’s standards, according to the The Washington Post and other media outlets. North Carolina is not one of them.

In North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration is considering a clean energy plan that includes strategies for increasing registered electric vehicles in the state to 80,000 by 2025, The News & Observer has reported.

This story was originally published September 24, 2019 at 3:26 PM with the headline "North Carolina joins lawsuit against Trump over California’s vehicle emissions rules."