Gov. Jared Polis and Attorney General Phil Weiser have added Colorado to a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump for moves limiting states’ power to regulate emissions.

The Trump administration revoked California’s authority to set auto mileage standards stricter than existing federal regulations Wednesday, a move he said would result in cheaper, safer vehicles.

“Many more cars will be produced under the new and uniform standard, meaning significantly more JOBS, JOBS, JOBS! Automakers should seize this opportunity, because without this alternative to California, you will be out of business,” Trump tweeted.

In response, Colorado partnered with California and other states and local governments around the nation to get the regulation reversed, arguing in the suit that the federal government has upheld states’ right to establish their own environmental standards for decades.

“By taking this unprecedented and unjustified action of revoking the waiver, the federal government is failing to respect states’ authority to protect the public health and environment when it comes to setting emissions standards from cars and trucks,” Weiser said. “I will continue to fight for clean air and Colorado’s right to protect its residents.”

California was joined by 22 other states, including Colorado, and the District of Columbia in suing the administration in a bid to preserve the state’s power to set tougher vehicle-emissions standards for the country’s auto industry.

“California has been regulating vehicle emissions since 1959. Its authority to do so has been repeatedly recognized, reaffirmed, and even expanded by Congress,” the states said in the lawsuit. The new Trump administration effort “flies in the face of this history,” the states said.

Federal regulators are working on their own tailpipe-emission rules that could ease requirements set under the Obama administration in 2012. Their efforts, they said, would give drivers access to cheaper, safer cars while providing certainty to auto manufacturers as they engineer future models of cars that comply with anti-air-pollution rules.

The move has potential to impact Colorado’s recently implemented emission standards. The Air Quality Control Commission adopted a proposal in August to implement a “zero emission vehicle” program that would mandate an increase in statewide sales of electric vehicles by 2023.

Air quality has been a priority for Polis, who asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to lower Colorado’s air rating from “moderate” to “serious,” and for the city of Denver, which has launched programs encouraging alternatives to driving.

“We won’t let Washington, D.C., bureaucrats and lawyers interfere with our plans to reduce smog and improve our health in Colorado,” Polis said. “Rather than infringing upon state’s rights, the Trump administration should be working with us on solutions to an issue that has a long history of bipartisan consensus and industry support.”

The Colorado Automobile Dealers Association supported Trump’s rule. The group’s CEO said Wednesday that California’s standards create “a complicated, contradictory system that ultimately costs consumers.”

“The California emissions standards reflect famously bad air quality in cities like Long Beach and Los Angeles, not conditions in Colorado,” CEO Tim Jackson said. “The California standards don’t take into consideration Colorado’s unique driving conditions, with mountainous terrain, challenging weather and long distances between communities.”

Denver-Aurora ranked 12th worst in the country for ozone pollution in an April study by the American Lung Association. But the Front Range area did have improved air quality this summer, with 30 Ozone Action Alert Days between May 31 and Aug. 31, as opposed to 52 in that time period of 2018.

“Consumers, industry and the states are working together on common sense solutions to reduce smog,” Polis said. “What part of cleaner air, more consumer choice and lower costs does the president disagree with?” 

California’s rules got some industry support earlier this year. In July, four car companies – Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW – voluntarily signed an agreement with California to meet tougher emission requirements than those proposed by the Trump administration. The companies said the agreement is intended to show support for a single, nationwide vehicle-emissions standard.

Specifically, the auto makers agreed to improve average fuel efficiency by 3.7% annually from model years 2022 to 2026. They would get some credit toward that goal for selling electric vehicles.

The Wall Street Journal contributed.