[JURIST] Automakers have launched a lawsuit against the nation's strictest set of vehicle emissions standards, approved earlier this year by the California Air Resources Board. The action, filed Tuesday, alleges that vehicle emissions standards are properly within the jurisdiction of the federal government. Defenders of the California standards and other state-made rules counter that while federal regulators can set emissions standards for automotive fuel economy, states can regulate carbon dioxide emissions in general. Seven states representing one-quarter of the US car market – New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont and Rhode Island – have so far moved to emulate the California standards. Read the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers press release on the lawsuit here. AP has more.