Georgia Judge Cites Carbon Dioxide in Denying Coal Plant Permit (New York Times) Both opponents of coal use and the company that wants to build the plant said it was the first time a court decision had linked carbon dioxide to an air pollution permit. [News Source]

Dynegy coal-fired plant in Georgia stalls (Houston Chronicle) Dynegy's plans for Georgia's first coal-fueled power plant in more than 20 years stalled as an air-pollution permit was rejected. [News Source]

Change in the political climate. If the normal rules of politics prevail, the environment will slide down the nation's priority list this summer. [News Source]

Underground menace unnerves residents. Tainted groundwater in Pompton Lakes is causing "vapor intrusion" - toxic air seeping into homes. It's an old New Jersey story. [News Source]

A better way than cap and trade. The bitter arguments in the Senate this month over the Lieberman-Warner climate change bill proved that climate change caused by humans has come to the fore of U.S. policy debates. [News Source]

Air board’s plan would have state breathing free. More than any other government in the world, California is creating a template for tackling global warming, learning from the mistakes of the European Union and putting pressure on Congress to pass a federal law. [News Source]

Area prepares for smoking ban. In Iowa, the public places for smokers to light up indoors are dwindling and tomorrow they will all but vanish. [News Source]

Smoke ban often defied Downstate. Six months after the state's blanket ban on smoking in indoor public places took effect, Downstate smokers can easily be found either breaking the law or craftily skirting it except in urban areas such as Springfield, Bloomington and Champaign. [News Source]

Smoke from fires taints Tulare County air. Air quality readings today in Tulare County show pollution levels in the unhealthy range — an improvement from the very unhealthy range on Friday — but initially for a different kind of air pollution than that experienced in recent days. [News Source]

Big Sur fire surges, but Bay Area air better. While a stubborn fire southeast of Big Sur continued to send flames in new directions on Sunday, pollution regulators predicted the re-emergence of healthy air today in central Bay Area cities. [News Source]

Weather helps battle flames. Thousands of firefighters continued to battle blazes throughout California on Sunday as help poured in from other states and weather conditions turned more favorable. [News Source]