… or so the Bush administration would have you believe. Currently, the administration is working on rewriting the Clean Air Act, which protects national parks from air-polluting power plants being built within close proximity. This new proposal is yet another in a succession of attempts which began in 2003 to weaken protection of federal lands: one of the last initiated proposals stated that air is only protected at parks that are large and varied enough to “represent complete ecosystems.” Now ask yourself this question – if destructive power plants are built near already-fragile parks, just how are those parks supposed to meet the ecosystem standards?

With visibility levels plummeting (at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, visibility is 15 miles, down from 80) and air quality degenerating rapidly, these new standards will greatly harm areas already at risk. A report published by the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) stated that these new rules could facilitate the building of 33 new coal-based power plants near ten national parks, each within 186 miles of a park. These power plants could release a projected 122,135,000 million tons of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur dioxides and mercury into parks nationwide over the next 50 years – just try to meet ecosystem standards then! Of course, a new rule for the measurement of emissions has been created as well. Mark Wenzler, director of the NPCA, likened the rule to the excuses one makes after being caught speeding: “It’s like if you’re pulled over by a cop for going 75 miles per hour in a 55 mile-per-hour zone, and you say, ‘If you look at how I’ve driven all year, I’ve averaged 55 miles per hour.’” Under the new rule, pollution would be measured on average over the course of a year versus hourly to find high levels of emissions, making dangerous pollution spikes legal.

A final question: Great Smoky Mountains National Park already doesn’t meet federal smog standards, so why is our government implementing new rules to further harm this already-debilitated park? Hypocrisy reigns supreme!