The Washington Post reported this morning that Kansas Department of Health became the first government agency to cite carbon dioxide emissions as the reason for rejecting an air permit for a proposed coal fired electricity generating plant, saying that the greenhouse gas threatens public health and environment.

The decision marks a victory for environmental groups that are fighting proposals for new coal fired plants around the country. It may be the first of a series of similar state actions inspired by a Supreme Court decision in April that asserted that green house gases such as carbon dioxide should be considered pollutants under the Clean Air Act. For the complete story see www.washingtonpost.com.

In a related story, Matthew Brown of the Associated Press in a story picked up by the Lexington Herald, www.kentucky.com this morning, reported that at least 16 coal fired power plants have been scrapped in recent months and more than three dozen have been delayed because of concerns about global warming and rising construction costs.

Congress is concerned about greenhouse gas emissions and is considering legislation. Coal has been a mainstay in production of half of the electricity consumed in the US, but it is also one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases.

All this comes on the heels of the Kentucky General Assembly’s special session to pursue state incentives for the construction of a three billion dollar coal gasification plant in West Kentucky. Environmental groups like Kentuckians for the Commonwealth www.kftc.org and the Sierra Club will use this news to revisit the issue of coal incentives during the 2008 session.