Blue states sue to impose higher price cars on the US

AP/Fuel Fix:

Citing safety, the Trump administration on Thursday proposed rolling back car-mileage standards, backing away from years of government efforts to cut Americans' trips to the gas station and reduce unhealthy, climate-changing tailpipe emissions.

If the proposed rule becomes final, it could roil the auto industry as it prepares for new model years and weaken one of the federal government's chief weapons against climate change — regulating emissions from cars and other vehicles. The result, opponents say, will be dirtier air and more pollution-related illness and death.

The proposal itself estimates it could cost tens of thousands of jobs — auto workers who deal with making vehicles more fuel efficient.

The administration also said it wants to revoke an authority granted to California under the half-century-old Clean Air Act to set its own, tougher mileage standards. California and 16 other states already have filed suit to block any change in the fuel efficiency rules.
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The proposal would freeze U.S. mileage standards at levels mandated by the Obama administration for 2020, when the new vehicle fleet will be required to hit an average of 30 miles per gallon in real-world driving.

The proposed change, halting further improvement requirements, stakes its case on consumer choice and on highway safety claims challenged by many transportation experts.

The administration says waiving requirements for greater fuel efficiency would make cars and light trucks somewhat more affordable. And that, it said, would get vehicles with the latest technology into the hands of consumers more quickly.
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It is misleading for the AP to say the air will be dirtier under the changes since the vehicles will have to meet the standards set for 2020.  The air is already much cleaner than it has been and the vehicles will not be allowed to increase pollution.  The cost of the regulatory burden from the old rules would have been borne by consumers and not by the states.  It is an example of how regulations drive up cost and make the US less competitive.