QUOTE
The US state of Georgia has blocked construction of a new coal-fired power station because of concerns over its carbon dioxide emissions.
Environmentalists welcomed the news, and predict the decision will lead to reconsideration of many coal power plants under development in the US.
The judge cited a decision by the Supreme Court last year which issued a ruling recognising CO2 as a pollutant.
This is the first court judgement on an industrial plant based on that ruling.
Earlier this year, Georgia's Department of Natural Resources issued a permit allowing the Dynegy company to begin construction of its Longleaf coal plant.
But Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore has now halted construction of the 1,200 megawatt facility, ruling that the permit should have set limits on carbon emissions.
She based her decision on the 2007 federal Supreme Court judgement that ended several years of legal disgreements by ruling that carbon dioxide, the most important gas in the human-induced greenhouse effect, should be regarded as a pollutant under the US Clean Air Act.
Environmentalists welcomed the news, and predict the decision will lead to reconsideration of many coal power plants under development in the US.
The judge cited a decision by the Supreme Court last year which issued a ruling recognising CO2 as a pollutant.
This is the first court judgement on an industrial plant based on that ruling.
Earlier this year, Georgia's Department of Natural Resources issued a permit allowing the Dynegy company to begin construction of its Longleaf coal plant.
But Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore has now halted construction of the 1,200 megawatt facility, ruling that the permit should have set limits on carbon emissions.
She based her decision on the 2007 federal Supreme Court judgement that ended several years of legal disgreements by ruling that carbon dioxide, the most important gas in the human-induced greenhouse effect, should be regarded as a pollutant under the US Clean Air Act.
Full story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7485936.stm
