Clear Today, Gone Tomorrow...
In its new report, Dark Horizons (PDF, 3.5 MB), the National Parks Conservation Association identifies the top 10 national parks at risk from pollution from new coal-fired power plants.
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 NPCA has developed an interactive map illustrating the 10 national parks most at risk from pollution from new coal-fired power plants, with icons depicting the alarmingly close proximity of new and existing coal-fired power plants to those parks. The media is welcome to reprint or link to this map as needed. View the map >>
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Summer is the time many families visit our national parks...and it is also the time when air pollution peaks. Dirty air can darken the horizon and ruin scenic views. It also damages plants, harms fish and other wildlife, and even affects visitors and park staff, causing an asthma attack in a young child for instance, because of excessive levels of ozone pollution.
Already, NPCA has identified that one in three national park sites has air pollution levels that exceed health standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Most of the air pollution affecting national parks results from the burning of fossil fuels, especially by coal-fired power plants. Until now, some remote national parks like Great Basin in Nevada and Teddy Roosevelt in North Dakota have largely been spared dirty air. But as energy development activities increase, these parks too, are now vulnerable. Across the country, more than 100 new coal-fired power plants are in various stages of planning and development... putting national parks at risk.
Yet, the Administration is responding to this growing threat to our national parks by seeking to weaken and rewrite the very laws that protect national park air quality. Over the objections of its own scientists, and those at the National Park Service, the EPA has proposed regulatory changes that will make it easier to build new coal-fired power plants near national parks.
"Instead of opening the door to more pollution in national parks such as Shenandoah, Great Basin and Zion, the Administration should be working to secure a legacy that preserves Americas national treasures for our children and grandchildren," says NPCA Clean Air and Climate Programs Director Mark Wenzler.
NPCA is calling on the Administration to stand up for America's national parks by stopping EPA's ill-advised effort to weaken regulations that protect air quality in our national parks. Our national heritage is at risk!
