WASHINGTON —  The Supreme Court opened the door Friday for a potential challenge to California’s long-standing authority to set stricter emissions limits for new vehicles, including its “zero emissions” goal for 2035.

The justices voted to hear an appeal from oil and bio-fuel producers who sued the Environmental Protection Agency, arguing it had given California too much authority to regulate motor vehicles in the name of combating climate change.

The suit was tossed out on the grounds that the oil producers had no standing. Their only claim of an injury was that they may sell less oil and gas in the future. But the justices voted to reconsider the standing issue and to decide whether the suit may proceed.

At issue ultimately is California’s long-standing authority to set stricter emissions limits for new cars, trucks and buses.

The court will consider the case — Diamond Alternative Energy vs. EPA — early next year after Donald Trump has been sworn in.

His administration will decide whether California may enforce strict regulations over the next decade. The state would need Trump’s EPA to issue a new waiver in 2025 that would allow California to go beyond the federal standards for tailpipe emissions.

The California waiver has a long history in environmental law.

Since the late 1960s, Congress has said states must follow the federal standards for auto emissions, but it also said California may be granted a waiver to go further. Under this provision of the Clean Air Act, the EPA may allow California to impose its own stricter emissions standards because of the state’s worst-in-the-nation air pollution.

The law says that because California has a compelling and unique problem with air pollution, it can set stricter standards. But the attorneys for the oil industry argued that greenhouse gases are a global problem, not a California problem.

“EPA granted preemption waivers for California to tackle local problems like smog in the Los Angeles basin, where the pollution was both generated by and felt by Californians,” the fuel producers said in their appeal. “But all sensibility stopped in 2009, when California began claiming that [the waivers] authorized it to set standards to curb greenhouse gases in an effort to tackle global climate change.”

The law says a waiver could be granted to “meet compelling and extraordinary conditions,” but the oil producers argued the “global climate is not the kind of California-specific condition” that justifies a special rule for the state.

“Under EPA’s view, California alone among the states can regulate the nation’s automobile market in the service of addressing climate change and forcing a transition to electric vehicles,” the fuel producers said.

The appeal was written by Jeffrey Wall, the acting solicitor general in the final year of the first Trump administration, and Morgan Ratner, a former law clerk for Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.

Their arguments fell flat in the lower courts. In April, the D.C. Circuit Court dismissed their claim in a 3-0 decision and said the fuel producers had no standing to sue the EPA simply because they might sell less fuel in California in the future.

The auto makers did not sue to challenge California’s standards. Instead, Honda, Ford, Volvo, BMW and other major car makers “entered into independent agreements with California” to meet the emissions standards, EPA told the court.

In a separate appeal, Ohio and 16 other Republican-led states had claimed the special waiver for California is unconstitutional. They cited a 2013 opinion written by Roberts that struck down part of the Voting Rights Act on the grounds that its stricter scrutiny for Alabama and other states with a history of discrimination violated the state’s right to “equal sovereignty.”

But the court took action on that appeal.

In defense of its emissions rule, California officials said the tailpipe standards are needed both to combat unhealthy air pollution and to restrict greenhouses gases that are changing the climate. The California Air Resources Board said the “transportation sector is responsible for more than half of all of California’s carbon pollution, 80 percent of smog-forming pollution and 95 percent of toxic diesel emissions.”

The EPA agreed. It said California has unhealthy air pollution, and it “is particularly impacted by climate change, including increasing risks from record-setting fires, heat waves, storm surges, sea-level rise, water supply shortages and extreme heat.”

Two Chinese spies and a Chinese national who was charged for disseminating child pornography were part of a White House prisoner swap as Biden’s presidency nears the end.

On Nov. 22, Biden granted clemency to Yanjun Xu, Ji Chaoqun and Shanlin Jin. 

Their releases were part of a prisoner swap that returned three wrongfully detained Americans from Chinese custody: Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and John Leung. 

The three Americans returned to the U.S. before Thanksgiving.

CHINA DENIES NEW REPORRT LINKING CCP TO FOUR SITES IN CUBA ALLEGEDLY USED TO SPY ON THE US

Harrison Li holds a photo of his father, Kai Li, in Palo Alto, Calif., in January. (AP/Jeff Chiu)

Xu and Chaoqun were both Chinese nationals who were convicted of espionage in the U.S. 

Xu, according to a release from the Department of Justice, was the first Chinese government intelligence officer ever to be extradited to the United States to stand trial and was sentenced to 20 years.

According to court documents, Xu targeted American aviation companies, recruited employees to travel to China, and solicited their proprietary information, all on behalf of the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

BIDEN LEAVING OFFICE WITH LOWEST APPROVAL IN 16 YEARS, FOX NEWS POLLING SHOWS

In one example, noted in court documents, Xu attempted to steal technology related to GE Aviation’s exclusive composite aircraft engine fan module – which no other company in the world has been able to duplicate – to benefit the Chinese state.

The Department of Justice said that Xu openly discussed his effort to steal U.S. military information in addition to commercial aviation trade secrets.

Yanjun Xu, the first Chinese spy extradited to the US for trial, was convicted in 2021 on counts of conspiring and attempting to commit economic espionage and trade secret theft. (U.S. District Court)

A federal jury in Chicago in September 2023 convicted Ji Chaoqun, 31, of conspiracy to act as an agent of China’s Ministry of State Security without notifying the U.S. attorney general, acting as a spy in the U.S., and lying on a government form about his contacts with foreign agencies. (Fox 32)

Chaoqun was arrested and convicted after working with Xu on behalf of the CCP.

The federal agency said that Xu recruited and “handled” Chaoqun, who was stationed in Chicago during the duration of the scheme.

The DOJ said that Xu directed Chaoqun to collect “biographical information on people to potentially recruit to work with them.”

“Xu’s handling and placement of a spy within the United States to obtain information regarding aviation technology and employees is yet another facet of Xu’s egregious crimes towards the United States and further justifies the significant sentence of imprisonment he received today,” said U.S. Attorney Parker at the time of the pair’s conviction.

Jin was serving his sentence after being convicted of possessing more than 47,000 images of child pornography while a doctoral student at Southern Methodist University in Dallas in 2021.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the latest developments in Syria from the Roosevelt Room of the White House on December 8, 2024, in Washington, DC.  (Pete Marovich/Getty Images)

Biden commuted on Thursday the sentences of 1,499 people. He is also pardoning 39 individuals who were convicted of non-violent crimes.

President-elect Trump is set to take office in a little over a month, on January 20. He has said that he will immediately pardon people convicted of participating in the January 6, 2021, riot in the U.S. Capitol.

Tech executives, attempting to ease tensions with President-elect Donald Trump, are opening up their wallets after the former president staged a historic return to the White House.

OpenAI confirmed on Friday that its chief executive, Sam Altman, is planning to personally donate $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, becoming the latest tech billionaire trying to improve their rocky relationship with the new administration.

Meta, parent company of popular social media apps Facebook and Instagram, also confirmed it donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund. Amazon didn’t respond to a request for comment, but it is reportedly planning to donate the same amount to Trump’s inaugural fund.

While tech companies have given to previous presidential inaugurations, the donations come as Trump and Republicans look at reshaping policies that impact social media, electric vehicles, artificial intelligence and more.

Trump has criticized Big Tech in the past, accusing some of the world’s largest online platforms such as Meta and Google of censoring conservative speech. The platforms have long denied these allegations, but the tech industry’s relationship with Republicans became increasingly fraught after social media companies temporarily suspended Trump’s accounts following the Jan. 6, 2001, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

During Trump’s first presidency, tech executives, including from Google, Facebook and Apple, clashed with his administration for banning immigrants from certain Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.

Trump’s campaign, backed by Tesla and SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk, and other major tech companies didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Here are the tech executives and companies that have donated to Trump’s inauguration:

OpenAI

Altman said in a statement that “President Trump will lead our country into the age of AI” and Altman was “eager to support his efforts to ensure America stays ahead.”

Federal and state lawmakers, including in California, have been trying to place guardrails around the development of artificial intelligence. While AI-powered tools can make it easier for people to sift through large amounts of information, the technology’s rapid development has also raised concerns about national security, disinformation and job losses.

But as tech companies face stiff competition, including from China, they’re also worried that regulation could slow them down.

Trump has said he plans to reverse President Biden’s 2023 executive order on AI, which aimed to address some of the safety concerns surrounding AI, and analysts anticipate Trump could make a big push for AI innovation.

Altman has also sparred with Musk, a vocal supporter of Trump who spent at least $200 million to back the former president’s 2024 campaign and is looking at ways to slash government spending, over AI safety concerns. Musk, an early investor in OpenAI who also runs rival AI startup XAI, has accused the company of putting profits and commercial interests ahead of the public good. OpenAI, controlled by a nonprofit board, is reportedly trying to restructure as a for-profit benefit corporation.

At the New York Times DealBook Summit this year, Altman didn’t appear too worried about Musk’s strong ties to Trump. “I believe pretty strongly that Elon will do the right thing and that it would be profoundly un-American to use political power to the degree that Elon would hurt competitors and advantage his own businesses,” he said.

Meta

It’s the first time Meta has donated to a presidential inaugural fund, but the company has previously supported both parties’ convention committees, Meta spokesman Andy Stone said in an e-mail.

Meta’s $1-million donation to the Trump inaugural fund was made at Zuckerberg’s request, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Zuckerberg, who expressed concerns about Trump’s immigration policies during his first presidency, has been strengthening ties with Trump. He met with Trump over dinner at his private Mar-a-Lago club and gifted him a pair of Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses, according to the Journal.

After an attempted assassination of Trump in July, Zuckerberg told Bloomberg in an interview that Trump’s reaction of raising his fist in the air was “one of the most badass things I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Trump’s campaign has floated proposals that would affect online platforms including legislation to “drastically limit the ability of big social media platforms to restrict free speech.”

Jeff Bezos reportedly plans to meet the president-elect at his Mar-a-Lago club next week, and Amazon is also expected to donate $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.

(Charles Krupa / Associated Press)

Amazon

Bezos is also trying to win over Trump and plans to meet the president-elect at his Mar-a-Lago club next week, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The e-commerce giant contributed to Trump’s first presidential inauguration in 2017, donating roughly $58,000. (Biden reportedly wasn’t accepting tech donations for his 2021 inauguration.)

Trump has sparred with Amazon in the past, falsely accusing the Bezos-owned Washington Post of being a lobbyist for the tech giant. Trump also accused Amazon of a “post office scam.”

Bezos’ companies could benefit from Trump administration policies. Amazon Web Services and its space company, Blue Origin, which competes with SpaceX, has contracts with the federal government and has been striking a more friendly tone with Trump, according to a report from the Washington Post.

At the New York Times’ DealBook Summit, Bezos appeared optimistic about the new administration and noted that Trump “seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation.”

“If I can help him do that, I’m going to help him, because we do have too much regulation in this country,” Bezos said.