Results of the big auto manufacturer/greenhouse gas emissions lawsuit are in. It has to have environmental groups dancing in the streets and auto manufacturers grumbling in their offices.

For you folks at home, it could mean the average car gets something on the order of 43 mpg by 2016, or that the average car in some other way runs cleaner than it does today.

U.S. District Court Judge William Sessions ruled that there's no conflict between a state regulating greenhouse gas emissions in cars and the federal mileage standards. Which means states, such as Vermont and California, can have their own regulations.

Meeting those standards will be a challenge for automakers, Sessions said, but "the court remains unconvinced automakers cannot meet the challenges of Vermont and California’s GHG regulations.”

You can read the 240-page decision HERE.

The regulations would start in 2009, requiring a 30 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from cars and trucks by 2016.

Gov. Jim Douglas praised the ruling and the work of the state's lawyers in defending the standards:
“Most of Vermont’s greenhouse gases are emitted by automobiles and for us to make significantly reduce our carbon footprint the innovations that occur in states like Vermont are critical.”

“Setting high – but achievable – standards for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles is a tool every state must have the option of employing. Now, thanks to our victory, every state will.”

Don't be surprised if the auto manufacturers appeal this.

- Terri Hallenbeck