Today a federal district court in Rhode Island bounced the automobile manufacturers from their case challenging Rhode Island’s adoption of California’s greenhouse gas emissions standards for new automobiles.  While the ruling was unrelated to the merits of the case, it does thwart the auto industry’s apparent legal strategy of filing the same challenge to California’s clean cars program until the automakers find a court willing to rule for them.

In today’s ruling (pdf), the Rhode Island court dismissed the auto manufacturers from the lawsuit based on the legal doctrine of collateral estoppel (also known as issue preclusion), which prevents parties from contesting matters that they have already had a full and fair opportunity to litigate.  The Rhode Island court held that because the auto manufacturers have raised the same legal issues in Rhode Island as they did as parties to earlier lawsuits filed in California and Vermont —losing in both cases, by the way — they are precluded from re-litigating those issues.  The Rhode Island court noted in its decision that the auto manufacturers should not be able to file the same lawsuit in other courts across the country.  Because a group of auto dealers, who are co-plaintiffs in Rhode Island with the manufacturers, were not parties to the California and Vermont actions, the court allowed them to stay in the case for now.

The case is Lincoln Dodge, Inc et. al. v. Sullivan (No. 06-00070, filed Feb. 13, 2006 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island). Warming Law will continue to report on developments in this case as they occur.