…And the World:

We begin today in Spain, where King Juan Carlos I has announced his abdication after 39 years on the throne. The Spanish king, who gained the throne after the reign of dictator Francisco Franco ended, said it was time to pass the crown on to a new generation, namely his son, according to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. The Guardian reports that he had health problems.

Egypt’s Abdel Fattah al-Sisi won the presidential election. “Now what?” NPR asks.  Meanwhile, The Washington Post looks at Sisi’s only Islamist ally and what to make of that relationship.

The Palestinian Unity government, reconciling the differences between Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, has been sworn in. Israel’s government appears divided over what to do next, some call them terrorists, others say that appellation is alarmism. Secretary of State John Kerry has expressed concern to Palestinian President Abbas. The New York Times’ Jodi Rudoren has a FAQ on the deal.

With the return of a US soldier held in captivity for years, some think this might be prelude to broader talks with the Taliban. Both sides are playing that down, though.

Google has begun to comply with the ruling that it must enforce people’s right to be forgotten.

President Obama is heading to Europe to mark the first free Polish election in 1989 and then later in the trip, to mark the Allied invasion of Normandy on D-Day. NPR has a preview of the trip. The New York Times looks at opinions about Obama in Warsaw. Although the planned G8 conference in Sochi was planned for this trip (post-Ukraine, it has been rescheduled as a G7 meeting in Brussells, sans Russia), Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the D-Day remembrances. He and British Prime Minister David Cameron will sit down to chat about Ukraine.

The Feds:

The big news out of Washington today is the Environmental Protection Agency’s new rule intended to cut carbon emissions by 30% by 2030. Predictably, opponents and red state Democrats are condemning, it but environmental groups are hailing the proposal as a serious effort to curb the devastating effects of climate change. Scientific opinion overwhelmingly credits human produced greenhouse emission with the warming temperatures and the resulting climate change the Earth has experienced.

Another important point lost on opponent, many of who describe this as an another Obama overreach, the President is REQUIRED under the Clean Air Act to regulate pollution, and the Supreme Court has ruled this included Carbon Dioxide and othergreenhouse gases. Vox notes that at one time Republicans agreed Climate change needed to be addressed. As a presidential candidate John McCain had a proposal that would go further than Obama’s rule today.

Today in Golden State potpourri. In polls ahead of tomorrow’s state primary (all candidate participate regardless of party), Gov. Jerry Brown is annihilating his GOP opponents. Meanwhile, the state also inches closer to a minimum wage hike and paid sick leave. In San Francisco, labor unrest leads to a sick-out, and dramatic service reduction on city buses, trolleys and cable cars as a result.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo avoided a schism with the left and earned the Working Families Party endorsement over the weekend. This happened despite some boos when he addressed the convention. In New York, a candidate can appear on more than one party’s line and while Cuomo was thought to win anyway, not having the WFP line could have been political embarrassing to him and weaken his margin of victory. It also could have left the WFP with too few votes to get on ballot next time around. Both sides are claiming victory for now.

The latest forays into what Scott Brown hopes was a just an interregnum period outside the Senate shows he was adviser for a firm that ostensibly does not do anything, but dreams of making guns. Oh it gets better.

The State of Things:

A battle is brewing over the bottle bill in Massachusetts, which would expand the beverage vessels eligible for a deposit. It could go before voters in the Fall.

WBUR looks at outsiders’ chances in the Democratic primary for governor.

The Dot’s own “Mahty” is popular at Dorchester’s Dot Day parade. Color us shocked.

Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse sets a special City Council meeting to discuss the $45,000 Heather Egan received as part of her exit from the City Solicitor’s office.

ICYMI: The Valley Advocate’s profile of Maura Healey, Democrat running for Attorney General.

Municipal tidbits: Pittsfield Mayor Dan Bianchi submits his budget to the City Council. The Chicopee City Council adopts a tougher code of conduct…for itself.

The Fourth Estatements:

SCOTUS Blog has earned a name for itself, but it cannot seem to get permanent credentials for the institution it covers.

Worcester Magazine has a rundown of what may be to come at The Worcester Telegram & Gazette, bought by a Florida company from Red Sox owner John Henry. T&G staff have been tweeting out layoffs of colleagues today.

City Slickers:

Pete Goonan previews tonight’s City Council meeting, namely its tax breaks for businesses relocating the city. However, the real meat and potatoes may be request for money for Putnam…wait isn’t that finished? City Council President Mike Fenton is requesting a review by the state Department of Revenue.

The Reminder gets a tour of the new studios for Springfield Public Access rebranded as Focus Springfield. Public Access is funded by the Cable Endowment and broadcasts City Council meetings and, with the new studios, will be better accessible for community programing as well.

William Fitchet signed off over the weekend as Police Commissioner. The Republican writes on his last day, we reflect on his tenure.

Twitter Chatter:

As noted above, today the EPA released its new rule on reducing carbon emissions. The rule has another year of comment before it can go into effect and states will begin preparing their implementation plans at that point. There is and will be a lot of misinformed or politically cynical hysteria about this, but as John Oliver aptly described some weeks ago, the debate is ridiculous and, indeed, well…political and cynical. For all the pearl-clutching over bequeathing the national debt’s to our children, there is precious little alarm on that side among the same quarters over the state of the planet our children will inherit. To that end, we award this week’s tweet prize to Gina McCarthy, who announced the new rules today. Yes moving away from carbon is an opportunity and it is what good stewards of the earth should do. Not to mention, it is exactly the kind of leadership America used to do, and the world IS watching this one.