Nearly every national park is affected by air pollution and climate change in adverse ways. NPCA’s “Polluted Parks” report evaluates damage from air pollution at 417 national parks based on harm to nature, hazy skies, unhealthy air and climate change. It also presents stories of people affected and clear and feasible solutions to benefit our air, parks and climate.
Reports
Polluted Parks: How America is Failing to Protect Our National Parks, People and Planet from Air Pollution
State of the Air 2019
American Lung Association’s “State of the Air” 2019 found that, in 2015-2017, more cities had high days of ozone and short-term particle pollution compared to 2014-2016 and many cities measured increased levels of year-round particle pollution. The “State of the Air” 2019 report shows that too many cities across the nation increased the number of days when particle pollution, often called “soot,” soared to often record-breaking levels. More cities suffered from higher numbers of days when ground-level ozone, also known as “smog,” reached unhealthy levels. Many cities saw their year-round levels of particle pollution increase as well.
Natural Gas Waste on the Navajo Nation: An analysis of oil and gas methane emissions
A report from Environmental Defense Fund and conservation partners, including Diné C.A.R.E., Native American Voters Alliance and Grand Canyon Trust, sheds light on the amount of natural gas wasted on Navajo Nation lands, and offers recommendations to policymakers for addressing this problem and its negative effects on human health, the environment and economy.
The analysis estimates the amount of methane burned, vented or leaked across the oil and gas supply chain within the Navajo Nation and quantifies the economic value of that lost gas based on market prices.
Face to Face with Oil and Gas: Voices from the Front Lines of Oil and Gas Pollution
A new report from Moms Clean Air Force highlights the scope and diversity of the public health impacts that oil and gas pollution have on the well-being of families across the country, in both urban and rural areas, living near and far from oil and gas operations. It is unconscionable that our federal government wants to weaken or revoke safeguards that protect our children from this industrial pollution.
By sharing the perspectives of seven women from across the country living with this pollution, this report brings us face to face with the health impacts of the oil and gas industry.
Country Living, Dirty Air: Oil and Gas Pollution in Rural America
In many parts of America’s rural countryside, pollution from the booming oil and gas industry is causing an increase in asthma attacks and increased risks of cancer and respiratory diseases. That’s the key finding of a new report released today from Clean Air Task Force (CATF) and Earthworks.
This report builds on two earlier reports from CATF — Gasping for Breath (2016) and Fossil Fumes (2017) — and Earthworks’ Oil and Gas Threat Map and demonstrates how, even in sparsely populated areas in the West and Midwest, that significant health impacts can be observed.
Synthesis Study
Science released a study from the Environmental Defense Fund that finds that the U.S. oil and gas industry emits 13 million metric tons of methane from its operations each year—nearly 60 percent more than currently estimated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The higher overall methane leak rate underscores a growing business and environmental challenge for natural gas in an increasingly competitive, lower-carbon economy. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, with more than 80 times the climate warming impact of carbon dioxide over a 20-year timespan. It is also the main ingredient in natural gas.
Tribal Communities at Risk: The Disproportionate Impacts of Oil and Gas Air Pollution on Tribal Air Quality
A new analysis from public data shows that Native American communities often face disproportionate health impacts from air pollution from the oil and gas industry. Meanwhile, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt are seeking to eliminate federal rules designed to limit waste and air pollution from this industry on tribal lands.
Fumes Across the Fence-Line: The Health Impacts of Air Pollution from Oil & Gas Facilities on African American Communities
The oil and gas industry dumps 9 million tons of methane and toxic pollutants like benzene into our air each year. Methane is a greenhouse gas 87 times more potent than carbon dioxide at driving climate change and the oil and gas industry is now the largest source of methane pollution in the U.S. But methane is just one harmful air pollutant from the oil and gas industry. This paper sheds light on the health impacts of air pollutants from oil and gas facilities that specifically threaten the health of African American communities living near oil and gas facilities and in areas far from oil and gas production.
State of the Air 2018
American Lung Association’s annual national air quality “report card” State of the Air 2018 uses the most recent air pollution data, compiled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for the two most widespread types of pollution—ozone (smog) and particle pollution (PM2.5, also known as soot). The report grades counties and ranks cities and counties based on their scores for ozone, year-round particle pollution and short-term particle pollution levels. Since 2000, the American Lung Association has analyzed data from official air quality monitors to compile the “State of the Air” report.
Oil & Gas Pollution’s Impacts on North Dakota Families
North Dakotans and Americans alike need EPA’s and BLM’s rules to protect them from methane and other harmful air pollution resulting from oil and gas activities.
Residents of the Fort Berthold Reservation and across North Dakota are already paying the price for oil and gas leaking and venting, and they will continue to do so if we get rid of our vital pollution safeguards.
We know if the federal pollution standards are suspended or repealed, millions across the country will face the same unfair health challenges already impacting Native Americans in the region.