Judge William Sessions said automakers, which had sued to block the rules as burdensome, have proven themselves able to meet stringent standards.

"History suggests that the ingenuity of the industry, once put in gear, responds admirably to most technological challenges," he said in a ruling Wednesday.

The US Environmental Protection Agency, which is in charge of pollution regulation nation-wide, has so far refused to demand a curb in emissions believed partly responsible for global warming.

In 2002, the state of California decided to take the lead itself, passing a law requiring automakers to reduce global warming gases their vehicles emit by 22 percent by 2012, and by 30 percent by 2016. Like about a dozen US states Vermont followed suit with its own similar law in 2005.

Automakers took the individual states to court, saying only the federal government could make that kind of regulation.

But Sessions, handling the Vermont case, rejected that claim.

"The regulation does not impermissibly intrude upon the foreign affairs prerogatives of the president and Congress of the United States," he said.

Republican Vermont Governor Jim Douglas praised the ruling, saying "most of Vermont's greenhouse gases are emitted by automobiles and for us to 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," he said.

But Dave McCurdy, head of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said that automakers "support improving fuel economy standards nationally, rather than piecemeal.

"The alliance will continue studying the decision and considering the options, including an appeal," he said.

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