Denial of climate change by President Donald Trump and Republican members of Congress are putting the National Park System at great risk from sea-level rise, wildfires, and drought, according to a new report released Tuesday.
Compiled by the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC), a U.S. House of Representatives caucus, in conjunction with the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks, the report — America’s Best Idea in Peril: Climate Change & the Future of Our National Parks — states that the National Park System is at risk of being overrun by the myriad impacts of the warming climate.
Drought in Yellowstone National Park, wildfire risks in Yosemite, Rocky Mountain, and Shenandoah national parks, ocean waters inundating Everglades and Acadia national parks, and beach erosion at Indiana Dunes National Park are just some of the examples the report lists of parks struggling with the changes.
"We’re in a race for time,” U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, an Illinois Democrat, says in the report's executive summary, “and if you go to these places and talk to the people who are on the ground trying to solve this problem, it’s clear we’re falling behind. They need resources. The way I see it, it’s a straightforward proposition — either Congress acts, or our parks disappear.”
The politicians aligned with SEEC are promoting measures to counter climate change that are in direct conflict with the administration's positions: reduce carbon pollution, invest in sound science, and maintain federal lands.
“People visit national parks, they see green vegetation, maybe some wildlife on the side of the road,” said Jim Northup, former Shenandoah National
Park superintendent, “and they think these places are pristine and haven’t been impacted by us in any way. But nothing could be further from the truth."
The congressional caucus also is pointing to problems in the park system that have received much media attention over recent years, attention that hasn't seemed to sway those who ignore climate science.
"If we don’t act, generations of Americans after us will be left wondering why we failed them and why we failed to protect our national treasures from climate change," Quigley said at the end of the report.
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