President Barack Obama’s Responses to National Park Questions
As part of our effort to see national park issues addressed during the 2008 presidential campaign, NPCA posed three questions to the leading candidates about air pollution and the funding needs of our national parks, and sought their thoughts about the significance of the National Park System. Barack Obama’s campaign provided the responses below.
NPCA is looking forward to what a new administration means for our national parks, and we hope you'll be there with us. With change comes new direction--and new challenges. We will continue to work with Congress and the President to ensure that our national parks are restored to their glory by 2016.
As a nonpartisan, independent membership organization focused solely on our national parks, NPCA neither endorses nor promotes political candidates.
Air Pollution:
According to research by the National Parks Conservation Association, 1 in 3 national parks suffers the effects of air pollution, and many parks are already feeling the effects of global warming. What would your administration do to address these threats to our national heritage?
As president, I will restore the force of the Clean Air Act. I will fight for continued reductions in smog and soot, and continue my leadership in combating toxins that contribute to air pollution. Unlike President Bush, I will listen to my scientific advisers on air quality standards. And I will reverse the Bush administration's attempts to chip away at our nation's clean air standards and the integrity of our national parks. I will also protect roadless areas in our national lands.
Additionally, I will take bold steps to combat global climate change. I will set a hard cap on carbon emissions -- an 80 percent reduction by 2050. I will also empower my EPA and the National Parks Service to proactively identify how global climate change is affecting our national resources and local ecosystems so that we can develop comprehensive plans to mitigate serious damage to these precious resources.
Funding:
Our national parks have faced tremendous funding shortfalls for a number of years, compromising the ability of the National Park Service to protect our natural and cultural treasures, educate and inspire visitors, and acquire and protect significant landscapes next to and inside park boundaries now threatened by development. How will your administration use the upcoming centennial of the park system to mobilize the Congress and the American public to provide parks with the needed funding?
I am committed to addressing the funding shortfall that the National Parks Service has experienced, and ensuring that by 2016, the National Parks Service centennial, the national park system has the resources it needs to meet its unmet maintenance and operational needs.
Significance:
What do you think is the significance of America's 391 national parks? What do they mean to you?
I have very fond memories as a kid of traveling to Yellowstone, marveling at the scenery, and chasing after bison, much to my mother's distress.
But when I think of my own connection to the earth, I think of my time in Hawaii, my birthplace, which is home to many national parks. I think those of us who grew up in Hawaii have a particular attachment to the land and understand how fragile it is. When you are snorkeling through the coral reefs, you realize that a slight change in temperature or increase in sediment and runoff could end up destroying it all and making it unavailable for your children. That is something you worry about.
My own experiences are precisely why I believe strongly that our national parks are one of America's most precious treasures, and that we should do all we can to ensure that they are properly maintained and available for all Americans to enjoy.
