Auto Industry Objects to Calif. Rules

California Attorney General Jerry Brown gestures while commenting on the U.S. Supreme Court's decision that affects global warming at a news conference in San Francisco, Monday, April 2, 2007. The Supreme Court Monday ordered the federal government to take a fresh look at regulating carbon dioxide emissions from cars, a rebuke to Bush administration policy on global warming. In a 5-4 decision, the court said the Clean Air Act gives the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to regulate the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from cars. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) (Eric Risberg - AP)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The auto industry hopes a recent Supreme Court ruling will help it block California's plans to set the nation's first standards to cut tailpipe emissions from cars, light trucks and sport utility vehicles.

The state has been seeking an exemption from the federal Clean Air Act since 2005 to set emissions standards in hopes of reducing greenhouse gases.

The Environmental Protection Agency had refused, arguing that the authority to set fuel economy standards belonged only to the U.S. Department of Transportation. The Supreme Court, however, eliminated that argument on Monday, ruling that the EPA has the authority to establish vehicle emissions standards.

Raymond Ludwiszewski, an attorney representing the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, interpreted the ruling by as a directive that greenhouse gas regulations should be crafted at the federal level.

"I think the Supreme Court ruling makes it clear that the court viewed global warming as an issue that should be dealt with nationally and not at the state level," Ludwiszewski said Tuesday.

It's unclear what the next step will be in the case, which is being heard in federal court in Fresno. But both sides said the Supreme Court's decision favors their argument.

Several groups officially notified U.S. District Judge Anthony Ishii of the Supreme Court's decision. In January, he placed the lawsuit on hold pending a decision by the court.

"The case will affect all of the pending litigation that California has with both the auto companies and Midwestern energy companies," California Attorney General Jerry Brown said in an interview Monday with The Associated Press.

The Natural Resources Defense Council intends to ask the judge to dismiss the case in light of the Supreme Court's ruling, spokesman Craig Noble said.

Following the high court's ruling, the EPA agreed to allow California to move forward with it's plans.

The agency's next will schedule a public comment period and public hearing.

The California regulations were designed in 2002 to reduce the emissions from cars and light trucks by 25 percent and from SUVs by 18 percent starting in 2009.