ELR Citation: 50 ELR 20177
No(s). 2:19-cv-02142 WBS EFB (E.D. Cal. Jul 17, 2020) (Shubb, J.)

A district court denied the U.S. government summary judgment in a lawsuit concerning California's cap-and-trade agreement with Quebec. The government argued the agreement was conflict preempted by the foreign affairs doctrine because it created an obstacle to the effectuation of the Global Climate Protection Act (GCPA) and the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The court found that the agreement did not stand as an obstacle to the GCPA's abstract goals to mitigate climate change, and that the UNFCCC did not preempt the agreement because it was entirely consistent with the agreement's objectives. The government also argued the agreement was field preempted because it exceeded California's traditional police power, and interfered with the president's powers to negotiate for a better deal or the country's imminent withdrawal from the Paris Accord. The court found that the agreement extended beyond the areas of traditional state responsibility, but that the government failed to show the agreement impermissibly intruded on the government's foreign affairs power. It therefore denied the government's motion for summary judgment and granted California's motion.