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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Press Release Analysis Finds Proposed Refinery a Major Source of Pollution for Theodore Roosevelt National Park Independent analysis raises numerous concerns about air pollution from Meridian Energy Group’s proposed oil refinery near Theodore Roosevelt National Park’s boundary in North Dakota. The North Dakota Department of Health and the National Park Service are currently reviewing an air permit application by the company.
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Blog Post Do Brook Trout Have a Future in Shenandoah? One of Virginia's most popular national parks is a haven for native fish, but warming waters could prove devastating for this keystone species.
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Press Release House Votes to Weaken Clean Air Protections for Parks, Visitors Passes “Smoggy Skies Act.”
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Press Release Health and Environmental Groups Sue EPA Over Its Delay of Clean Air Protections for Millions EPA’s action puts people’s health and lives at risk.
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— Eric and Kathy
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Advocacy in Action Defending Clean Air Protections for Parks Air pollution is among the most serious threats facing national parks, threatening visitors’ health, clouding scenic vistas and altering our climate. To restore clean air to national parks, we work to defend the clean air laws that protect them.
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Press Release Groups Defend National Parks From BP Cherry Point Refinery Pollution NPCA is challenging oil giant BP’s expansion permit in Whatcom County, WA, for failure to protect air quality of Olympic National Park and North Cascades National Park
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Press Release BLM Removes Lands Near Zion from Oil, Gas Lease Sale Move will protect national park resources from impacts of energy production.
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Press Release Congress Moves to Limit Methane Waste; Protect Park Air and Visitor Health Senate votes to protect a commonsense policy created to protect taxpayers from the unnecessary waste of natural gas from federal lands
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Blog Post Why I’m Speaking Out to Protect the Park I Love Meridian Energy Group is just a few permits away from building a proposed oil refinery 3 miles from the entrance to Theodore Roosevelt’s namesake park, but economic growth in North Dakota does not have to come at the expense of one of America’s most special places.
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Press Release Groups Urge Secretary Zinke to Include Public in Public Land Policies Concern that without any public input, Interior will undo smart land management guidance that took years to develop.
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Press Release Interior to Review National Park Drilling Rule Executive order could roll back protections from oil, gas drilling within parks.
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Video Join Us Our national parks preserve some of the most inspiring places and stories. These places belong to us all. They deserve to be celebrated and protected. It’s up to us to ensure that America’s favorite places have clean water, clear air and healthy wildlife.
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Victory EPA Strengthens Clean Air Protections at 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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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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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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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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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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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 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 ›
- Haleakalā 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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