United States v. California

The United States filed an appeal from the judgment in favor of California and other defendants in the U.S. case challenging agreements linking California’s greenhouse gas emissions cap-and-trade agreement with the trading program of provincial government of Quebec, Canada. The district court rejected the U.S.’s claims that the linkage violated the Treaty and Compact Clauses and was preempted under the Foreign Affairs Doctrine.

The federal district court for the Eastern District of California ruled that California’s cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas emissions was not preempted under the Foreign Affairs Doctrine. First, the court found that the United States failed to identify “a clear and express foreign policy that directly conflicts” with the cap-and-trade program. Second, although the court found that California’s regulations and an agreement linking its cap-and-trade program with Quebec’s program had a “broad purpose” that extends beyond the area of traditional state responsibility, the court concluded that the U.S. failed to show that the cap-and-trade program impermissibly intrudes on the federal government’s foreign affairs power. The court therefore granted the defendants’ motions for summary judgment on the Foreign Affairs Doctrine claim. Since the U.S.’s other claims under the Treaty and Compact Clauses had already been dismissed, the court entered judgment in favor of the defendants.

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