SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KTXL) — California Attorney General Xavier Becerra led a multistate coalition in filing a lawsuit Friday against the Environmental Protection Agency, objecting to its standards regarding greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes.

Becerra announced Friday that the state aligned with the California Air Resources Board, saying that the EPA’s final standards for airplane engines would “lock in meaningless standards for years” as climate change continues to progress.

The aviation industry is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, yet the EPA has set standards here that are the equivalent of doing nothing.

If we’re to have any hope of meaningfully addressing the climate crisis, everyone must do their part. No sector, certainly not one that is a major contributor of GHGs, should be gifted a free pass from taking meaningful action to limit emissions.

Xavier Becerra, California Attorney General

Despite contributing 12% of all transportation-related emissions, the aviation industry remains the “largest unregulated transportation source” of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., according to Becerra’s office.

Among other issues, the lawsuit alleges that the EPA violated Section 231 of the Clean Air Act for failing to adjust standards. It added that the planes’ pollutants disproportionally harm those who live close to airports, who are mainly low-income residents and people of color.

The attorneys general of Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia joined Becerra and California Air Resources Board.

A copy of the lawsuit can be found here.