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State regulators made that decision on the calculation that the utility will shut down four 1940s-era power generators at Cliffside, and add pollution controls to a fifth unit at the site. They say shutting down the older plants would largely offset pollution from the new, larger unit.

"More than two times the electricity from the current plant will be generated," said Marilyn Lineberger, a spokeswoman for Duke Energy. "Yet it will emit much fewer emissions."

But the state's emissions calculation for Cliffside may itself go up in smoke if the federal court finds that Duke illegally modified the plant and others, as the EPA alleges. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the EPA's favor on an important technical issue in the case this year and returned the case to federal district court for further proceedings.

"There is some risk in making a decision before that case is resolved," said Jim Little, an environmental scientist with the EPA. "The risk to the company is if they started construction and the permit is reopened, that might affect their final construction schedule."

The National Park Service has done an analysis, showing further reductions in visibility and deposits of acid.

"The Great Smokies is already being severely impacted," said Don Sheperd, an environmental engineer with the National Park Service. "Until the Great Smokies gets back to a situation where it is healthy, as long as the patient is still ill, adding more to its burden is not helping."

Gudrun Thompson, an attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, said the plant would belch more than 9 million tons a year of carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas -- nearly three times as much as is currently produced.

"This is a very large new pollution source with no carbon controls," Thompson said.

Molly Diggins, state director of the Sierra Club, said Cliffside threatens Easley's legacy as a champion on clean air issues.

"Without changes, this permit will be bad for clean air, bad for consumers, and undermine enforcement of the Clean Air Act," Diggins said, referring to a key environmental law that protects national parks and wilderness areas from worsening air quality. "Five years ago, Governor Easley showed courage and leadership .... Now we need him to step up again, to protect the progress we've made on clean air, and to join other states in fighting global warming."

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