Wyoming Joins Lawsuit Over Federal Highway Emissions Rule

21 states, including Wyoming, are suing the Biden administration over new highway emissions rules.

Rules are essentially laws written by unelected bureaucrats.

The new rule, or bureaucratic law, written by the Federal Highway Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation, goes into effect on January 8th, 2024.

It requires the transportation departments in any state with a National Highway System mileage to create targets for carbon dioxide reduction.

21 states have filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.

These states argue that these federal agencies don't have the authority granted by Congress to require states to reduce emissions.

"Congress has not given FHWA or DOT authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions," the complaint says. "Nor can the Agencies compel the States to administer a federal regulatory program or mandate them to further Executive policy wishes absent some other authority to do so—which is lacking as to this rule."

The states involved in the suit are Kentucky, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

"President Biden is unconstitutionally ramming his radical climate agenda through administrative agencies that lack Congressional authority to implement such actions," Cameron said in a statement. "We will not stand by while this administration attempts to circumvent the legislative process."

Montana's Attorney General said the rule would disproportionately harm rural states where drivers have to drive farther distances.

"This rule is another unlawful and overreaching regulation by the Biden Administration to force the President’s radical green agenda onto Americans regardless of the costs,” Knudsen said. "This one-size-fits-all approach might work for the Washington, DC bureaucrats who cooked it up, but it won’t work for Montana."

The states ask the court to vacate the rule and block its enforcement.