*Does Obama's decision not to raise ozone standards affect California?

It wouldn't seem that way. Earlier this year a federal appellate court affirmed the state's authority - going back to the 1970 Clean Air Act - to waive federal standards in favor of its own standards. How it reached that point is a bit of a maze. In 2004, after the state passed tougher emissions requirements, the Bush administration refused to grant California a waiver. The Obama administration issued the waiver in 2009, but it was challenged by business interests, leading up to this spring's appeals court decision. Now that the president has decided not to raise federal ozone standards, infuriating environmental groups, the question is what sort of pressure will be placed on California lawmakers to ease up on the state standards. I have yet to see a story that tries to clarify the effect on state waivers - and it's kind of a big deal.

*Update: From the Contra Costa Times:

The decision's effect will be muted in California, home to some of the nation's most aggressive clean-air programs. "For states like California that have state standards that are lower than the antiquated (federal) standard, Obama's decision will have less impact," said Franz Matzner, climate and air legislative director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the environmental groups that sued to overturn the Bush-era rule. "But California still has a stake in what was done," he said. A spokesman for the state's clean air agency said the decision would not affect plans in California. "It doesn't lessen our efforts to clean up California's air," said state air resources board spokesman Stanley Young.