The lawsuit filed Wednesday against Maine for its new regulations on automobile emissions didn’t come as a surprise, though it is an unfortunate legal ploy that unnecessarily challenges progress against air pollution.

Automakers have challenged most attempts made by states to exceed federal rules on the emissions of greenhouse gases from cars and trucks. Maine is no exception.

The suit, which was filed in Kennebec County Superior Court, seeks an immediate stay of the state’s new rules, which were adopted Dec. 1 and would cut vehicle emissions 22 percent by 2012, and also asks that the issue be reconsidered by the Board of Environmental Protection or turned over to the Natural Resources Committee in the Legislature.

The rules mandate better pollution controls on vehicles sold in the state beginning in 2009. If the stay is granted, it could push that date further back, even if the case eventually fails.

In the lawsuit, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which is representing nine different carmakers, makes a weak case for reopening the issue. The challenge is based on procedural questions, not on the policy itself. It claims that the BEP did not properly consider the automakers’ point of view, a questionable claim to be sure. Other states, including California and Vermont, that have also imposed tougher emission rules listened to the same arguments and reached the same conclusion as Maine. They are also being sued.

“The carmakers’ lawyers are grasping at straws. They have tried to avoid responsibility by making the same empty arguments in ten states, and so far each state has rejected them – Republican and Democratically-controlled alike,” said Jon Hinck, a staff lawyer for the Natural Resources Council of Maine.

Additionally, the carmakers would like to have the rules tossed into the Legislature for approval, where the politics of the issue would compete with the science. Cars and trucks are the largest source of greenhouse gas pollution in Maine. To tackle the problem means making vehicles cleaner. Having failed to convince the BEP, carmakers hope to have better luck with politicians who might be more easily swayed by deep pockets and sophisticated lobbying.

Automakers faced the same process as other business in the state. What they want is special treatment.

Every step of the way, carmakers have fought tougher emission standards. They have successfully scuttled progress at the federal level. States have been forced to act on their own and have been given the authority to adopt California’s tougher approach to emissions.

On several fronts, Maine has been among the leaders in addressing greenhouse gas emissions. The state is within its authority to crack down on emissions and the timeline approved by the BEP gives the auto industry sufficient time to prepare for the new market realities.

“Consider automakers’ record,” Hinck said. “All of us are familiar with good ideas that automakers have been slow to adopt air bags, seat belts and others. They denied they had a problem with rollovers until they said they’d solved it.”

The lawsuit shows that automakers are in denial about global warming and the impact their product has on it. Maine’s emission rules, which represent solid progress, should be allowed to stand.