March 24, 2008
The country's treasured open spaces are no more immune to air pollution from
coal-fired power plants than are its big cities. Sulfur dioxide causes acid rain and
kills trees. Mercury emissions poison streams. Nitrogen oxides and sulfates create
smog and haze.
For all these reasons, Congress in 1977 amended the Clean Air Act to require the
Environmental Protection Agency to make a special effort to clean the air in
national parks, wildlife refuges and other places of "scenic" and "historical" value
it hoped to leave in somewhat better shape for future generations.
No administration since, Democratic or Republican, has paid any attention to this
mandate, and despite high hopes, the Bush administration seems likely to fail as
well. Two weeks ago, the antiregulatory brigade in the Office of Management and
Budget killed ozone standards that would have offered stronger protections for
plants, trees, crops and wildlife. And the Environmental Protection Agency,
ignoring protests from its own regional offices and the National Park Service, is
nearing approval of regulations that would make it easier to build coal-fired plants
near parks and wilderness areas without installing pollution controls.
Improving the national parks was one of President Bush's two big environmental
promises in the 2000 campaign. The other was his pledge to control greenhouse
gas emissions, abandoned the day he rejected the Kyoto Protocol on climate
change. As for the parks, Mr. Bush has commendably increased their budgets and
started a separate centennial campaign to encourage private contributions on an
unprecedented scale. Unfortunately, his enthusiasm for cleaner air in the parks is
not nearly as strong as his fealty to the utilities.
In 2003, for instance, his proposal for revising the Clean Air Act, known as Clear
Skies, would have stifled dissent by making it harder for the Park Service and
other agencies to object to new power plants. In 2005, an otherwise admirable
E.P.A. plan to reduce power plant pollution east of the Mississippi, known as the
Clean Air Interstate Rule, also provided cover for many of the dirtiest plants to
avoid expensive pollution controls. And in 2006, the White House weakened a
proposed rule that would have greatly reduced the airborne particulates that ruin
the scenic views in many parks.
The net result is that one in three national parks suffers from one or another form
of air pollution, including immensely popular destinations like Yosemite in
California, Great Smoky Mountain, straddling the Tennessee-North Carolina
border, and Gettysburg.
The air in these parks will only get worse if the administration proceeds with its
latest rules opening the way for more downwind power plants. Members of
Congress and nearly every environmental organization have asked Mr. Bush to
abandon this ruinous idea. Doing so would improve not only the parks but also
whatever positive legacy Mr. Bush hopes to leave behind.
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
