Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association Files Lawsuit over Emission Standards

Federal Litigation, Minnesota, Opinions, Policy, Sustainability

January 8, 2021

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(KROXAM) On Wednesday, January 6, the Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association (MADA) filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court alleging Minnesota lacks the authority under the Federal Clean Air Act to regulate motor vehicle emissions and is preempted under federal law from moving forward with its rules to adopt California vehicle emissions standards.

“For over a year now,” stated MADA President Scott Lambert, “we have requested the Walz Administration and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) abandon their plans to follow California rules and instead pursue homegrown initiatives that benefit both the environment and Minnesota consumers.”

“Instead,” Lambert continued, “the agency has chosen to move forward with a plan that abdicates control to California and is harmful to Minnesota consumers and Main Street businesses across the state.”

In its complaint, MADA specifically alleges that since the federal government revoked California’s waiver to create its own emissions standards, Minnesota therefore has no legal authority to impose those mothballed standards onto its citizens and businesses. READ MORE

Car group sues over state adopting California emission standards (The Center Square Minnesota)

Excerpt from The Center Square Minnesota: Darin Broton, MPCA director of communications, told The Center Square the legislature set a bipartisan goal to reduce Minnesota’s greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% by 2050.

“To help meet that goal, Minnesota has proposed clean car standards that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and give consumers more choices when purchasing electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles,” Broton wrote in an email.

“Minnesota’s proposed clean car standards for low emission vehicles have been used in all new cars, trucks and SUVs sold in Minnesota from 2012-2020 and already adopted in 14 states with Nevada and New Mexico also seeking adoption. Auto dealers in Minnesota have been successfully selling more stringent low-emission vehicles since 2012, and they can meet Minnesota’s proposed standards for years to come.”

However, electric cars have environmental damage tradeoffs.

While they don’t guzzle gas, a single Tesla requires seven kilograms of lithium for its battery pack, which requires an energy-intensive extraction from the brine of salt flats that can damage the environment and cause water shortages, such as in Chile’s Atacama and Argentina’s Salar de Hombre Muerto regions, Ronald J. Deibert explains in his book “Reset: Reclaiming the Internet for a Civil Society.” READ MORE

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