Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dismissed California’s challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency’s denial of California’s request for a waiver of preemption of the state’s greenhouse gas emission vehicle emission controls. In a brief order, the Court explained that the letter from EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger informing him of the waiver denial was not, itself, a reviewable final action subject to judicial review. This does not end the litigation over California’s waiver request, however. Rather the battle shifts to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, where California may press its challenge to the EPA’s Federal Register notice formally denying the waiver request. This is a defeat for California nonetheless, as the state surmised (with some reason) that the Ninth Circuit would provide a friendlier forum for the Golden State’s claim.