The EPA overstepped its authority with its so-called tailpipe rule that requires automakers to reduce sharply greenhouse gas emissions from cars and pickup trucks, said the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and the National Farmers Union in a lawsuit filed in U.S. appellate court on Monday. It was the second lawsuit in four days to challenge the regulation.
Both lawsuits say the EPA rule is biased toward electric vehicles and discourages the sale of cars and trucks that use liquid fuels. Roughly 35 percent of the U.S. corn crop is used in making ethanol.
“America’s ethanol producers and farmers would be severely injured if EPA’s regulation were allowed to stand,” said the RFA.
Last week, the oil industry, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Corn Growers Association, and six auto dealers filed suit against the tailpipe rule in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.