You are here

Obama Administration Urged By NPCA To Close Loopholes That Prevent Clean Air Over Parks

Share

Unless things change, it will take centuries for many national parks to have truly clean air, according to the National Parks Conservation Association, which wants the Obama administration to close loopholes that stand in the way of improving air quality.

The park advocacy group maintains that despite the 1977 Clean Air Act and the 1999 Regional Haze Rule, "many national parks today suffer serious air pollution and at the current rate of progress it will be centuries before their natural air quality is restored."

"Included in a sample of ten national parks that NPCA highlighted are the nation’s first national park, Yellowstone, which will not achieve natural air quality until 2163, and the Grand Canyon, which is prized for its stunning vistas above all else and will not see pristine air quality until 2127," the group said in a release.

With hopes of rectifying the problem, NPCA has launched a petition calling on President Obama to speed the rate of improvement of national park air quality by closing regulatory loopholes and ensuring that all parks have natural air quality by 2064, the deadline provided in the 1999 Regional Haze Rule.

“At the current rate of clean up it will be ten generations before our national parks are returned to natural air quality,” said NPCA Clean Air Program Director & Counsel Stephanie Kodish. “With pollution control technology and congressional approval already in place to meet the 2064 deadline, which is half a century away, it should not take longer than this nation has existed to clean the air at these national treasures.”

(If a video doesn't start playing, refresh your page.)

300 Years for Clean Air? Our National Parks Can’t Wait! from NPCA on Vimeo.

NPCA found the expected clean-up date for ten national parks in data and regulatory documents from the Environmental Protection Agency, the federal agency charged with implementing the Regional Haze Rule.

The ten national parks NPCA evaluated and the year natural air quality is expected to be achieved based on current rates:

* North Cascades National Park (Washington) – 2276

* Badlands National Park (South Dakota) – 2265

* Voyagers National Park (Minnesota) – 2177

* Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming/Montana/Idaho) – 2163

* Theodore Roosevelt National Park (North Dakota) – 2158

* Big Bend National Park (Texas) – 2155

* Grand Canyon National Park (Arizona) – 2127

* Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (Colorado) – 2119

* Joshua Tree National Park (California) – 2106

* Sequoia National Park (California) – 2096

In 2016 the National Park Service will celebrate its 100th anniversary. NPCA is calling on the Obama Administration to give national parks the gift of clean air by taking steps to ensure that natural air quality is restored to national parks by no later than the 2064 regulatory deadline.

You can find more information on NPCA’s findings and the impact of air pollution on national parks at this website.

Add comment

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.

This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.

You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.

So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.