US Supreme Court Won't Hear Minnesota 'Clean Car' Challenge

by Scott McClallen (The Center Square/Crow River Media) The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an auto group's challenge of Minnesota adopting "clean car rules" that will require automakers to introduce more low-emission vehicles.

Minnesota will be the first Midwest state to enact strict tailpipe emissions and require automakers to offer more electric and hybrid vehicles, taking effect with the 2025 model year.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld the standard adopted by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency in 2021.

Minnesota Auto Dealers Association President Scott Lambert said the group is “disappointed” about the ruling that will raise consumer prices.

“We believe using California’s rules is not a good fit for Minnesota,” Lambert said in a statement. “Minnesota dealers are happy to sell customers electric vehicles if those customers choose to purchase them. But we are not in favor of a mandate that requires us to stock vehicles that have very little demand.”

Minnesota adopted the rule to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, which accounts for a quarter of overall GHG emissions statewide.

“The Walz Administration’s unilateral decision to avoid legislative debate on this issue and impose California regulations on Minnesota through rulemaking did not take into account the economic harm to our industry or the complications for consumers,” Lambert said in a statement.

The new standard will require vehicles to meet low emission vehicle and zero-emission vehicle requirements similar to those already adopted in 11 states.

The LEV standard requires automakers to introduce cleaner and more fuel-efficient vehicles that emit less greenhouse gas and pollutants. The ZEV program requires manufacturers to offer consumers an increasing number of cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks powered by electricity. READ MORE

Excerpt from Star Tribune: The new rule, which encountered stiff opposition from Republicans, also includes a mandate for automakers to bolster their stock of all-electric and hybrid vehicles across the state.

But not everyone was on board. The Minnesota Auto Dealers Association (MADA) filed suit against the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), claiming regulatory overreach.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld the state's clean-car mandate in January, and the state Supreme Court denied the case in May — prompting the appeal to the nation's highest court.

In its petition to the high court, MADA's lawyers claimed tying the state's air-quality regulations to California's is folly. "Minnesota is not California," the brief states. "It does not have California's smog and air pollution problems — so long as Canada keeps its forests from burning down."

MADA President Scott Lambert said auto dealers were disappointed with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision.

"We believe using California's rules is not a good fit for Minnesota," Lambert said in an email. "Minnesota dealers are happy to sell customers electric vehicles if those customers choose to purchase them. But we are not in favor of a mandate that requires us to stock vehicles that have very little demand." READ MORE

Excerpt from Epoch Times: However, a July Axios report found that a number of U.S. car dealers cannot sell EVs and many dealership owners don't want them anymore. In July, a separate report, citing dealership owners, made a similar claim about EVs.

"We have turned away EV inventory," Scott Kunes, the chief operating officer of Kunes Auto and RV Group in the Midwest, told Business Insider. "We need to ensure that we have a good turn on it."

He added that automakers are "asking us to make a large investment," adding that "we're just wanting to see some return on that investment."

"It's not just that these vehicles are expensive ... which they are. We're talking about a much more nuanced lifestyle change," Sam Fiorani, the vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions, said in the Insider report. The EV ownership experience is different, which includes charging and anxiety over the vehicle's range.

In late September, a Cox Automotive analyst said that EV supply is far outpacing demand.

“The demand is not keeping up with production, which is the opposite story of a year ago,” Cox Automotive executive analyst Michelle Krebs said. “We call it the ‘Field of Dreams’ moment. Automakers are building more, but not enough consumers have come to the field.” READ MORE

Excerpt from Ford Authority: “But we’ve also seen a politicization of EVs. Blue states say EVs are great and we need to adopt them as soon as possible for climate reasons. Some of the red states say this is just like the vaccine, and it’s being shoved down our throat by the government, and we don’t want it. I never thought I would see the day when our products were so heavily politicized, but they are.” --Bill Ford READ MORE