WionDrive News Desk 
The US Environmental Protection Agency has been sued by Republican attorneys general from 25 states for blocking rules intended to reduce carbon emissions from cars and light trucks, and encourage electric vehicle manufacturing. The attorneys argued that the agency exceeded its legal authority.
The lawsuit challenging the regulations for passenger vehicles, finalised on March 20 by President Joe Biden’s administration, was filed by attorney’s general from states led by Kentucky and West Virginia in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The EPA rules aim to cut fleetwide tailpipe emissions for cars and light trucks by nearly 50% through 2026 levels in 2032. They also aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 7.2 billion tons through 2055.
However, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said the rules would harm the American economy, threaten jobs and raise prices while undermining the US electricity grid. Coleman also said there is very little consumer interest in electric vehicles in his state.
Republican state officials have said the rules amount to an attempt by the administration to transform the American passenger vehicle market improperly through strict rules that make it difficult for manufacturers to not go electric. “The Biden administration is willing to sacrifice the American auto industry and its workers in service of its radical green agenda. We just aren’t buying it,” Coleman said. Meanwhile, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey called the rules “legally flawed and unrealistic, to say the least.”
The regulations are among the most significant environmental rules implemented under Biden, who has made tackling climate change a key pillar of his presidency. The EPA has forecast that between 35% and 56% of new vehicles sold between 2030 and 2032 would be electric under the rules – a range that reflected the flexibility the agency has said automakers have to pursue different pollution-cutting technologies.
