ST. PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota car dealers lost a court case against a new state policy requiring new cars to meet tougher emission standards. The decision, from the state Court of Appeals, was a victory for Governor Tim Walz and environmentalists. Car dealers had fretted that tougher emissions would force car prices upward and hurt their sales. Their legal argument, however, was not so shameless or self-serving. The car dealers argued that a Walz regulatory unit, the Pollution Control Agency, had created the Clean Car Rule outside of legislative channels. “Improper,” they called the procedure. The rule was modeled on a recent California requirement that phases in ultra-low or zero tailpipe emissions standards. On the side and under their breath, the Minneoita car dealers demonized Walz and his Pollution Control Agency as copycatting.
