Climate friendly parks: Performing greenhouse gas inventories at US national parks and implications for public sector greenhouse gas protocols

Through the Climate Friendly Parks Program, the United States National Park Service, in partnership with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, has conducted greenhouse gas emission inventories for approximately 20 national parks. When organized according to scopes as recommended in the draft Public Sector Standard prepared by the World Resources Institute, the greenhouse gas emission inventory results indicate that the national park’s scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions are low relative to scope 3 emissions. For most parks, the majority of scope 3 emissions occur from visitor vehicle travel. A recent Executive Order issued by President Obama in October 2009 requires that agencies include specified scope 3 emission sources in their greenhouse gas inventories and set targets for reducing scope 3 emissions. As the NPS considers actions to reduce scope 3 emissions the bureau should ensure that the mitigation actions align with the NPS mission and consider the bureau’s role as it relates to broader national GHG mitigation efforts. Ultimately, the national park’s greatest ability to reduce GHG emissions may lie in demonstrating sustainable techniques and technologies that can be replicated by visitors beyond the park’s boundaries.