"More electric vehicles could soon be for sale on Minnesota car lots after an administrative law judge ruled Friday that the Walz administration can set new emissions standards without the OK of lawmakers.

The ruling by Judge Jessica Palmer-Denig clears the way for state regulators to adopt the new "clean car" rules that would require manufacturers to deliver more electric vehicles and hybrids to the state. It does not, however, resolve a standoff with Republican lawmakers that could still upend the administration's plans.

Republican lawmakers have opposed the new standards since Gov. Tim Walz first announced plans in 2019 to have the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) adopt them. Nearly two dozen Republican state senators and auto dealers from around the state argued to Palmer-Denig that new emissions standards should come from the Legislature, not the MPCA."

Greg Stanley reports for the Minneapolis Star Tribune May 7, 2021. [2]