Back to the Utah State Aggies Newsfeed

Protect views at our national parks and cut coal plant emissions, groups urge Utah

Utah regulators’ ideas for cutting emissions from coal-fired electrical plants is under fire from environmentalists who dismiss it as a rehash of a flawed plan the Obama-led Environmental Protection Agency has already rejected — twice.

Under the Clean Air Act, the state is obligated to minimize “regional haze” that obscures vistas at national parks and other protected airsheds with the goal of achieving “natural conditions” by 2064.

Emissions from two power plants in Emery County impair visibility at Utah’s five national parks and three others in neighboring states, according to Cory MacNulty, associated director for the Southwest region of the National Parks Conservation Association.