National Parks Initiative Celebrates Five Years, Continues to Drive Parks Toward a Sustainable Future
Each year, hundreds of millions of visitors travel to nearly 400 national parks across the United States to experience unique natural and cultural resources. With that kind of volume, it has become increasingly difficult to reduce impacts to the surrounding air quality and overall experience. In fact, transportation within the parks from fleet and visitor vehicles accounts for the majority of the average park’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GHGs are a major contributor to climate change, which in turn affects not only national parks, but people and the surrounding environment in many ways.
To support the agency in its mission to address these impacts, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Clean Cities program formalized its long-time relationship with the National Park Service (NPS) in 2010 through an interagency agreement called the Clean Cities National Parks Initiative (CCNPI). This has provided a means to promote actions that reduce fuel consumption, increase the use of alternative fuels and technologies, reduce GHG emissions, and raise awareness among staff, partners, and visitors.
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