Sue and Improved

States to sue Bush admin over weak fuel-economy standards for SUVs

Stop us if this sounds familiar: A group of states plans to sue the feds over lax environmental regulations. At this point, the feds have more suits than Armani! Their federalism federalisn't! Take my states ... please! (Hey, we have to liven these stories up somehow.) The latest suit -- to be filed this week by 10 states and two cities -- is over the Bush administration's recently released changes to fuel-economy standards for SUVs and light trucks. The plaintiffs, led by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, hope to push the administration to toughen the rules. They say the feds violated the law by failing to rigorously analyze the effect of the standards on air quality and climate change. A spokesperson for the Department of Transportation called the lawsuit "predictable." So the feds expect that their governing will piss off the states? That inspires confidence.