Led by California, nearly two dozen states sued the Trump administration on Friday over its rollback of fuel efficiency standards for cars, arguing that the move was based on a faulty analysis and violated federal law.
The lawsuit continued an escalating legal battle between President Trump, who has sought to dismantle a broad array of climate and environmental policies, and California, which said it has now sued the administration 97 times.
The federal Transportation Department announced this week that it would sharply scale back fuel efficiency rules for new cars and light trucks, gutting one of the Biden administration’s most aggressive policies to reduce gasoline consumption and push automakers to shift to electric vehicles.
The new rules will require automakers to achieve an average fuel efficiency of 34.9 miles per gallon for new cars and light trucks in model year 2031. That standard is far below the figure of 50.4 m.p.g. set by the Biden administration.
Last year, Republicans in Congress eliminated fines for automakers that didn’t meet the mileage standards, essentially rendering them toothless.
In its lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, a coalition of Democratic-run states and cities, led by California, plans to argue that the new rules are illegal because they do not set fuel efficiency standards at the “maximum feasible” level, as required by law.
The states say that the Trump administration’s standards are less stringent than what automakers have already achieved, and that federal agencies had ignored recent advances in electric vehicle technology when setting the rules. They also contend that the administration overlooked the costs of oil price shocks and climate pollution.
“The administration can’t manipulate its analysis to reach the result it wants,” Rob Bonta, California’s attorney general, told reporters on Friday.
Mr. Bonta added that Mr. Trump’s war in Iran, which has helped push gasoline prices up by more than 30 percent this year, demonstrated the need for more fuel efficiency.
“The benefits of helping Americans drive on less gas should be obvious by now,” he said.
In a statement, the transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, defended the new rules, saying that the Biden administration had “illegally twisted mileage standards to create an electric vehicle mandate — jacking up car prices for American families and forcing manufacturers to produce vehicles no one wanted.”
He added, “This administration understands the freedom of every American family starts with affordable cars.”
The Trump administration’s analysis estimated that its rules would cut car prices by $1,289 in model year 2031, on average. But drivers of those cars would also pay $1,624 more in fuel costs over time than they would have under the Biden-era standards, according to the analysis.
Many automakers opposed the Biden-era rules, saying that they would have required too quick of a shift toward electric vehicles. Auto industry groups have also criticized the constantly shifting standards, which typically tighten under Democratic presidents and loosen under Republicans.
“What the industry needs is long-term regulatory stability that includes balanced, durable and achievable fuel economy standards that continue to reduce emissions and improve fuel economy,” John Bozzella, chief executive of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a lobbying group for major carmakers, said of the new rules in a statement on Monday.
Congress created the mileage standards in 1975 in response to an oil embargo by Middle Eastern countries. Since then, automakers have steadily improved how far cars can travel on a tank of gas, while expanding electric and hybrid offerings.
Transportation is the country’s largest source of planet-warming greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. The Biden administration had ratcheted up the mileage standards as part of its strategy to tackle climate change.
Mr. Trump, who has rejected efforts to address global warming, attacked E.V.s during his campaign to retake the White House.
Mr. Bonta said Congress’ move to eliminate penalties for not meeting the standards did not affect the states’ lawsuit.
“We think just the lack of the penalty on its own does not make this action by the federal administration lawful,” he said. “It’s still unlawful, penalty or no penalty.”
California has sued over a flurry of other Trump administration actions affecting transportation. It has joined a coalition of Democratic-led states challenging the Environmental Protection Agency for erasing Biden-era limits on greenhouse gas emissions from new cars and trucks.
The state has also sued the Trump administration over efforts to prevent California from mandating cleaner vehicles within its borders.
The Clean Air Act of 1970 gave California the authority to limit tailpipe pollution more strictly stricter than federal standards, as long as it receives E.P.A. permission. Under the Obama and Biden administrations, the agency approved waivers allowing California to set tighter limits on pollution from cars, trucks, ships and even lawn mowers.
Mr. Trump and congressional Republicans have tried to rescind many of those waivers using a law called the Congressional Review Act. Last year, lawmakers blocked a sweeping California plan to effectively phase out sales of gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035.
The state has challenged that move and others like it in court.
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