Fourteen AGs Filed Amicus Brief in Support of Dismissal of Challenge to California’s Cap-and-Trade Coordination with Quebec

MAY 26, 2020

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum led a coalition of 14 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in support of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s motion to dismiss the final claim in the federal government’s lawsuit against California over the state’s agreement with the Canadian province of Quebec to coordinate their respective cap-and-trade programs. California’s motion targeted the government’s claim that the agreement is preempted by the Foreign Affairs doctrine, and emphasized that the government has failed to “establish any conflict with a foreign policy of the United States, let alone the clear conflict required to preempt part of a state air pollution control program.” In their amicus brief, the attorneys general warned that, if accepted, the federal government’s claims would “expand the foreign affairs preemption doctrine to threaten states’ ability to address not only climate change, but numerous other critical issues that have both international and intrastate implications.”