San Francisco – Three leading conservation and environmental health and justice organizations will challenge the Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful approval of a plan for Alaska that will allow visibility-impairing pollution at national parks and pristine wilderness areas, and threaten the health and safety of people who live in and visit Alaska.
In a petition for review filed with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the National Parks Conservation Association, Sierra Club, and Alaska Community Action on Toxics notified the court that they are suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Administrator Lee Zeldin to force the government to reject the inadequate plan for Alaska. The petition begins the organizations’ challenge to the March 3, 2026, EPA approval of Alaska’s deficient plan to meet air quality requirements under the Clean Air Act. The coalition is represented by Democracy Forward in the matter.
“The EPA has an obligation to ensure that states, including Alaska, protect the air quality in our national parks,” said Ulla Reeves, Clean Air Program Director for the National Parks Conservation Association. “Denali National Park sits at the heart of Alaska’s tourism economy, and its health is essential for local communities and the state’s economic future. Despite the importance of Alaska’s public lands, the EPA is failing parks and communities by allowing the state to proceed with a plan that does nothing to clean up Alaska’s air pollution.”
“Denali National Park is one of the country’s most iconic national parks and a source of inspiration for public lands lovers in Alaska and beyond,” said Andrea Feniger, Alaska Chapter Director for the Sierra Club. “Denali is known worldwide for its stunning views, solitude, and beauty. It’s time for the Trump Administration to require polluters to install cost-effective, off-the-shelf emission controls on nearby coal plants that have been allowed to foul Denali’s air quality for far too long.”
“The EPA has an obligation to protect air quality, the integrity of Denali National Park and the surrounding area, and the health of people,” said Pamela Miller, Executive Director and Senior Scientist with Alaska Community Action on Toxics. “We will not tolerate the degradation and contamination of this precious region with harmful and health-threatening pollutants.”
The Clean Air Act includes many different processes to protect the quality of the air we breathe, with different approaches depending on the types of air pollutants needing to be limited to protect the health and welfare of people, iconic public lands, and communities. At issue in Alaska is the Clean Air Act’s regional haze program, which Congress created in 1977 to specifically address pollutants that cause haze — impairment of natural visibility that results from industrial pollution. Haze threatens natural conditions at pristine locations like Denali National Park.
“The approval of this plan was not based on science, did not follow proper procedures, and fails to protect priceless natural places and the people who breathe the air that will be polluted. So as we have done hundreds of times since this president’s inauguration, we’re heading to court,” said Elena Goldstein, Legal Director at Democracy Forward. “Democracy Forward is honored to work with these petitioners to stop this reckless corporate polluter giveaway and to stop dirty and dangerous coal-fired power from harming people and natural parks.”
The case is National Parks Conservation Association v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Democracy Forward legal team working on the case includes Tsuki Hoshijima, Kayla Kaufman, and Elena Goldstein.
Read the petition here.
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Democracy Forward Foundation is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.
