Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is leading a coalition of GOP-leaning states and oil industry groups that are challenging the tailpipe rule.
But Peter Zalzal, a senior attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund, an advocacy group that is involved in two of the legal cases, said the rules were “lawful, constitutional and vital.” The court cases come as the Biden administration pushes the auto industry to quickly adopt electric vehicles as part of its climate agenda. The 2021 infrastructure law and 2022 climate law include billions in incentives for purchase of new and used EVs and a national. Fully electric vehicles represent just 6.7% of new vehicle sales in the U.S., but analysts expect that to rise rapidly in coming years.
The Justice Department disputed a claim that the tailpipe rule falls under the so-called “major questions” doctrine cited by the Supreme Court in a landmark ruling that limited how the EPA can regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. The court’sin West Virginia v. EPA held that Congress must speak with specificity when it wants to give an agency authority to regulate on an issue of major national significance.