SAMANTHA YOUNG, AP
January 16, 2007

U.S. District Judge Anthony Ishii also ordered the California Air Resources Board to delay enforcing tailpipe-emission standards for greenhouse gases. The case had been scheduled to go to trial Jan. 30, 2007.
In his order, Ishii said it was best to wait until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a related case in which auto manufacturers have raised identical issues.
"It's a logical thing to do," said David Doniger, an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, which is helping the state defend the regulations. "The Supreme Court has the very same issue in front of it. We should wait to see what the highest court in the land is going to say."
California passed the law regulating tailpipe standards for automobiles in 2002 as part of its effort to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and adopted the standards two years later. It has applied to the federal government for a waiver to let it implement the regulations under the Clean Air Act.
Business interests led by a Central Valley car dealership and the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers sued the state. They claim the rule is a de-facto mandate on fuel-economy standards, which can be set only by the federal government.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule later this year in a Massachusetts case about whether greenhouse gases should be regulated under the Clean Air Act. A decision in the case could have implications for California and 10 other states that have adopted the stricter California auto standard.