Oregon Public Broadcasting

Washington Governor Chris Gregoire says she will sue the Bush Administration over clean car standards. And Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski says he’s prepared to sue.

At issue is an EPA ruling handed down Thursday. It says the states can’t impose tougher tailpipe emission standards on auto-makers.

Gregoire says the Bush administration has no legal authority to block the states.

Chris Gregoire: “I don’t like suing the federal government. They leave us no option. I would much prefer to be a partner. I think it would be great if we could have a federal lead on global climate change. We do not. They’ve left it to the states. They need to then get out of the way and let us lead.”

The emission standards are designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars by 30-percent by the year 2016.

The Bush Administration says the tailpipe rules aren’t needed because of new legislation that requires auto-makers to improve gas mileage by 2020.