No Haze in National Parks! Tell EPA to Enforce the Law
- al: Care2
- destinatario: Stephen Johnson, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
The photo at left from the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia clearly shows the effects of air pollution on the visibility in our parks. Haze not only contributes to environmental damage, it also hinders our enjoyment of mountain views. The Environmental Protection Agency, however, has been dragging its feet in cleaning up the haze in parks and other protected areas.
The Clean Air Act required states to submit plans to clean up the air pollution in their environmentally protected areas by December 2007. But only six states have complied! Tell the Environmental Protection Agency to enforce the law before our parks become permanently hazy.
Dear Administrator Johnson,
Clean Air Act provisions required that all 50 states were to submit their plans for cleaning up air pollution in parks and wilderness areas to the Environmental Protection Agency by December 2007. Only six states - North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Iowa, Missouri and Louisiana - have complied with the law.
So why has your organization not enforced this law for the other 44 states?
The National Park Service claims that human-caused air pollution reduces visibility in most of the parks throughout the country. In the western United States, the average visual range is already one-half to two-thirds what it would be under natural conditions, and in the east it is a mere one-fifth.
[Your comment here]
It is critical to clean up the air pollution that damages our national parks so future generations can enjoy the beautiful scenery as we have. Please demand that the remaining 44 delinquent states submit their plans immediately!
