Washington will stick to stricter vehicle emission standards -- Inslee

This is how Seattle's hazy skyline looked yesterday to people in Newcastle, south of Bellevue. This is how Seattle's hazy skyline looked yesterday to people in Newcastle, south of Bellevue. Photo: Mike Urban/Seattle Post-Intelligencer Photo: Mike Urban/Seattle Post-Intelligencer Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Washington will stick to stricter vehicle emission standards -- Inslee 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

Washington will stick to the strictest limits of carbon dioxide emissions for vehicles purchased in the state, even as the Trump administration tries to relax fuel standards, Gov. Jay Inslee said Thursday.

Under a new rule from the Department of Ecology, all new vehicles licensed in Washington will continue meeting California's fuel emission standards, progressively reducing the release of greenhouse gases through 2025.

"The Trump administration has indicated it intends to roll back progress at the national level, which makes the collective action of states all the more critical," Inslee said.

Vehicles are the greatest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the state.

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Under the 1970 Clean Air Act, signed into law by a Republican president, Richard Nixon, smog-hit California was allowed to enact stricter air pollution rules. Other states were given the option of adopting rules set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or the stricter California standards.

A dozen states, including Washington, have followed California.

The Obama administration, in 2012, announced a plan to bring federal standards and those of California into harmony.

But the "big three" automakers appealed to Washington, D.C., and a political climate more friendly to polluters. The Trump administration has taken their side and wants to freeze federal emission standards at 2021 levels.

With California in the lead, several states have already filed suit against the Trump administration. Washington is included in the lawsuit, as are New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Oregon.

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"This is about health: It is about life and death," outgoing California Gov. Jerry Brown said in announcing the lawsuit.

"Rolling back the national standards could add 500 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere," Inslee said in a tweet.

"This makes the actions of states all that much more critical," Inslee tweeted. "Reducing vehicle emissions is absolutely critical to clean our air and combat climate change."