ATLANTA -- Georgia business groups are appealing a Fulton County judge's decision to halt the construction of a coal-fired power plant. They say the ruling could stall other energy plants and hamper economic development throughout the state.

Superior Court Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore made her ruling based on the Supreme Court's decision last year that carbon dioxide could be regulated as a pollutant.

Moore contends that federal air pollution laws require permits for all pollutants that could be regulated under the federal Clean Air Act, including carbon dioxide.

The decision halted the construction of the Longleaf Energy Plant, which would become Georgia's first new coal-fired plant in more than 20 years.

Environmental groups said if the decision stands, it will help them stave off 30 other coal plants now in active litigation.

If built, the plant is expected to create more than 100 full-time jobs and give millions of dollars in tax revenues to Early County, where almost a quarter of the 12,000 residents live in poverty.