Clearing the Air
Air pollution is among the most serious threats to our national parks and monuments. Dirty air ruins scenic views, harms wildlife and historic sites, and affects the health of visitors.
View parks affected by this issue ›More about Air
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Map Learn More About Seeing Clearly in America’s National Parks How dirty air harms parks and what you can do to help.
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Policy Update Position on 2016 Energy Legislation NPCA submitted the following position to members of the House of Representatives designated as conferees on energy legislation.
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Press Release EPA Plan Paves the Way for Cleaner Air in Utah & Southwest National Parks Park, clean air and health advocates celebrate EPA decision
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Press Release Westerners Tell EPA to Clean Up Air in National Parks, Wilderness Areas Broad Coalition of Advocates Call on EPA to Strengthen Clean Air Protections
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We love the National Parks and feel so grateful that we had the time and health and resources to visit all of them including Samoa. This has been a wonderful adventure. I only wish that we had started earlier when our children were younger so they could have made this journey with us. — Donna
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Press Release Health, Environmental, Business Leaders To EPA: Improve National Parks’ Air Quality A broad coalition of advocates and concerned citizens group convenes in Washington, DC, to speak out on the proposed Regional Haze Rule revisions
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Press Release EPA Finalizes Rules to Reduce Methane Pollution The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized rules to reduce methane pollution. The rules will help protect air in our national parks and curb climate change.
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Advocacy in Action Strengthening Clean Air Protections for Parks Air pollution is among the most serious threats facing national parks, affecting visitor health, compromising scenic vistas and altering the climate. A proposed revision to the rule intended to restore national park air could diminish these threats.
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Press Release Obama Administration Proposes Improvements to National Parks’ Air Rules Changes to Regional Haze Rule Critical to Reducing Air Pollution in National Parks, Wilderness Areas
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My Park Story Share Your Story Let our leaders know why clean air matters to you. Share your experience!
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Letter National Park Groups Thank President for Methane Announcement New rules will help protect parks from the impacts of climate change.
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Policy Update Position on Presidential Mitigation Memorandum NPCA submitted the following position to Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee ahead of a hearing on March 12, 2016, as well as to the House Natural Resources Oversight Subcommittee ahead of a hearing on February 24, 2016.
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Blog Post Why See Utah If You Can't See It Clearly? A new plan to clean up haze in the Southwest could help both parks and people—but without public action, Utah could be subjected to the same pollution problems it's had for years.
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Advocacy in Action Our Southwestern National Parks Deserve Cleaner Air Pollution from two of Utah’s oldest, dirtiest coal-fired power plants – Rocky Mountain Power’s Hunter and Huntington facilities – affects the air in eight of the Southwest’s national parks: Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyonlands, Mesa Verde, and Black Canyon of the Gunnison. For years, Utah has refused to reduce this pollution by requiring the best controls found at many other coal plants throughout the West.
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Infographic Two Plans, Only ONE Choice for Cleaner Air in Southwestern National Parks EPA has proposed two plans for Utah to address air pollution in national parks in the Southwest. Only one of these plans will reduce emissions from four units at two of the state’s dirtiest coal plants: Rocky Mountain Power’s Hunter and Huntington. Thousands asked the State of Utah to clean up these plants. Utah ignored us. Now EPA must make the right choice—the “Clean Parks” plan.
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Blog Post Porter Ranch: A Dangerous Wake-Up Call for People, Parks, and the Climate Two federal agencies are already working to address the problem of methane leaks—why we need to push harder for better regulations.
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Blog Post 5 Ways You Helped Improve National Park Air in 2015—and Another Way to Take Action Americans can breathe more deeply thanks to five important victories NPCA and its advocates won in 2015 that will help improve the air quality in our national parks. Here's what these victories will mean—and a new way you can take action to help hold more polluters accountable.
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Fact Sheet Clean Air for Parks Fact Sheets In the fight for healthy air, laws limiting haze pollution are powerful tools—but we need to act now to sharpen them. To win the fight for clean and healthy air, deploying all means to lower pollution—like ozone and particulate matter—is a necessity.
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Parks in Peril Return Clean Air to Yosemite Yosemite National Park is supposed to provide its millions of visitors clean air to breathe and spectacular views that extend for miles. The air in this park is even protected by law.
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Advocacy in Action Parks in Peril The crown jewels of our National Park System are at a crossroads. And it is up to each of us to determine which path they take.
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Report Polluted Parks: How Dirty Air is Harming America’s National Parks “Polluted Parks” graded the pollution-related damage in the 48 national parks required by the Clean Air Act to have the highest possible air quality.
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Letter Best Available Retrofit Technology at the Cholla Power Plant On behalf of National Parks Conservation Association and Sierra Club, Earthjustice respectfully submits the following comments regarding the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality’s (ADEQ) proposed Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) “reassessment” for the Cholla Power Plant.
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Report Virginians for Healthy Air Newsletter Virginians for Healthy Air is a network of Virginia businesses, civic groups, and nonprofit organizations that share the vision of healthy air for the Commonwealth and for Virginia’s national parks, including Shenandoah.
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Report Clean Air Health Findings in the Southwest A report on clean air health findings in the Southwest by Dr. George Thurston.
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Fact Sheet Polluted Parks: Fact Sheets Haze pollution limits views of our most valued national parks and wilderness areas, affecting not just how far we can see, but also the color, sharpness, and quality of the view. It also makes the air unhealthy for people, wildlife and natural resources.
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Report Climate Adaptation: A Resource Guide for Great Lakes National Parks and Communities Climate change is a global problem, but its effects are felt locally. Farmers in the Midwest have increasingly experienced severe droughts, while people living along the Great Lakes are watching their waterlines retreat. City-dwellers feel the stress of heat waves, gardeners cope with drought, and wildlife species are shifting their ranges. Such changes are altering the ways we live, work, and play at home and in the national parks.
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Report Communities and Parks: Communicating Climate Change Workshop National Parks Conservation Association and the National Park Service Climate Change Response Program are collaborating on a project focused on the development and application of sustainable strategies and tools for communicating science-based messages about climate change affecting local communities and the national parks.
Parks In Focus
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A–H
- Acadia National Park ›
- Arches National Park ›
- Badlands National Park ›
- Bandelier National Monument ›
- Big Bend National Park ›
- Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park ›
- Bryce Canyon National Park ›
- Canyonlands National Park ›
- Capitol Reef National Park ›
- Carlsbad Caverns National Park ›
- Chiricahua National Monument ›
- Crater Lake National Park ›
- Craters Of The Moon National Monument & Preserve ›
- Denali National Park & Preserve ›
- Everglades National Park ›
- Glacier National Park ›
- Grand Canyon National Park ›
- Grand Teton National Park ›
- Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve ›
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park ›
- Guadalupe Mountains National Park ›
- Haleakala National Park ›
- Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park ›
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I-O
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P-Z
- Petrified Forest National Park ›
- Pinnacles National Park ›
- Point Reyes National Seashore ›
- Redwood National & State Parks ›
- Rocky Mountain National Park ›
- Saguaro National Park ›
- Sequoia National Park ›
- Shenandoah National Park ›
- Theodore Roosevelt National Park ›
- Virgin Islands National Park ›
- Voyageurs National Park ›
- Wind Cave National Park ›
- Yellowstone National Park ›
- Yosemite National Park ›
- Zion National Park ›
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