An era where renting is more often a better deal than buying a home.

I'm David Brancaccio. First, a clash is shaping up over whether California can set strict vehicle emissions and efficiency standards.

The federal EPA is part of this, and now the U.S. Supreme Court.

Justices have agreed to consider whether the oil industry can directly challenge vehicle emissions rules, even though they're not automakers.

Marketplace's Nova Safo is here with more, Nova.

Well, David, we're very likely heading for a clash because California wants to set even tougher vehicle emission standards than what Donald Trump objected to during his first term in office.

This time around,

it would be a ban on the sale of all new gasoline engine vehicles in the state starting in 2035,

new cars, not ones still on the road. California needs a waiver from federal rules to set this

tougher standard. There are multiple reports now that the Biden administration is about to grant

that waiver. And what happens in California,

of course, is crucial because it's the biggest car market in the country. It has huge sway

over the auto industry. But the president elected said he would reverse this if the Biden people

send it through, right? Well, he has certainly suggested as much in a social media post,

and he's emphasized boosting

oil and gas production when he was running for office and getting rid of electric vehicle

incentives. Now, during Trump's first term, he did revoke California's waiver. The state

mounted a legal challenge left unresolved because the Biden administration reversed Trump's

decisions. Now we could be headed, David, for a repeat of that legal fight.

And now the U.S. Supreme Court is saying it will have a voice in this?

Right. Justice says they will hear oral arguments over whether the oil and gas industry can challenge California's current EPA waiver. California gets these on a regular basis.

The Supreme Court hearing could be over a technical question regarding standing, and depending on how it rules, it gets these on a regular basis. The Supreme Court hearing could be over a

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