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Do they really care?

Chris Strand

Mandan

In a recent article by the AP, we were reminded that the National Parks Conservation Association is yet again appealing the Permit to Construct for the Davis Refinery in court.

While it is clear now that this is just another attempt to slow down the project, one that is good for the state mind you, there is nothing new here. The NPCA wants us all to believe that they are on a mission to clean up the air, and the clean air program director went even so far to say, “The NPCA is fighting to protect the park that has inspired generations of conservationists.”

I found this particularly ironic, as a study I found a few weeks ago showed that emissions caused by visitor vehicles to the park cause on average 11 times the CO and 8 times the NOX emissions per year than that maintained by the Davis Refinery. So for the last three years, they have been devoting their efforts to shut down a project that will set new clean standards for the oil industry, instead of focusing on what’s been damaging the air quality within the park for years.

The NPCA and their ‘loyalists’ should start to come up with real life solutions today for traffic pollution within the park, which sees about 97,000 vehicles driving over 1.7 million miles yearly. Instead of devoting their funds and taxpayer dollars to stall tactics and court room battles, maybe they should invest in a clean bus shuttle system and parking lot development outside the park to bus visitors in and around the TRNP. It’s time to do something about the real issue of emissions within the park, that is of course if you really care about air quality in North Dakota.

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