http://www.desertsun.com/story/tech/science/energy/2016/06/20/electric-vehicle-chargers-coming-ca-national-parks/86152476/ Electric vehicle chargers coming to CA national parks June 21, 2016 Sammy Roth
[image http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/b4e84d301cbac05d3b75d2538a95104b942db0a1/c=226-0-3773-2667&r=x408&c=540x405/local/-/media/2016/04/27/PalmSprings/PalmSprings/635973537411566234-23DeathValley01.JPG (lo-res) California State Route 190 looking east in Death Valley National Park on March 23, 2016. (Photo: Marilyn Chung/The Desert Sun) http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/2016/04/27/PalmSprings/PalmSprings/635973537411566234-23DeathValley01.JPG (hi res) ] A new initiative could make it easier to visit national parks without hurting the environment. California officials approved $1.5 million last week for the National Park Service to install at least 15 electric vehicle chargers at park sites across the state. The grant from the California Energy Commission could allow the park service to build charging stations in places like Joshua Tree and Death Valley national parks, which don't have public electric vehicle chargers and are difficult to access without gasoline-powered cars. It's not yet clear where the charging stations will be built; the park service will study where it makes the most sense to put them, based on criteria like expected demand and distance from existing chargers. But wherever they go, park officials say they'll serve a dual purpose. In addition to making it easier for electric-vehicle drivers explore the parks, officials say, the chargers will raise awareness of cleaner transportation options. "We care very deeply about climate change and energy and emission reductions, and air quality," Mary Hazell, who works in the park service's Sustainable Operations and Climate Change office, told the California Energy Commission. "We think this is a really great platform for information, because for millions of visitors, it will allow for sustainable EV travel across the state, and allow us to talk about it on a platform across the nation." Last year, more than 38 million people visited National Park Service sites in California. Bill Magavern, policy director for the nonprofit Coalition for Clean Air, noted that transportation is the biggest source of local air pollution and planet-warming carbon emissions in California. "The national parks are trying to be models of environmental stewardship and responsibility, and I think they try to do that with their water use, with their recycling, with their buildings," Magavern said. "So it makes sense that the national parks should be part of addressing our transportation emissions problem." Several National Park Service sites in California already have charging stations, including Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Point Reyes National Seashore, Santa Monica National Recreation Area and Yosemite National Park. But none of the major park sites in the California desert — Death Valley National Park, Joshua Tree National Park and the Mojave National Preserve — have public chargers. (Joshua Tree has one charger for staff vehicles.) Abby Wines, a spokesperson for Death Valley National Park, said the closest charging stations are in Beatty, Nevada — about 45 minutes from the center of the park. "We're in the middle of nowhere, so it's pretty hard for someone to drive into Death Valley on an electric vehicle," she said. The National Park Service has made it a priority to prepare for the impacts of human-caused climate change, including rising temperatures and sea levels, shifting habitats and more intense droughts and wildfires. Joshua Tree National Park could lose the vast majority of its namesake species by century's end — a concern that President Barack Obama highlighted when he visited Yosemite last week. "Make no mistake, climate change is no longer just a threat — it's already a reality," Obama said, according to a White House transcripttional Park At the same time, the park service has been doing what it can to limit its own contributions to global warming. The agency has set a goal of reducing its direct carbon emissions 35 percent below 2008 levels by 2020, through initiatives to slash electricity use, build more renewable energy capacity and buy more fuel-efficient vehicles. The agency also hopes to reduce its indirect carbon pollution — including emissions from visitors driving gasoline-powered cars — 10 percent below 2008 levels by 2020. That's where initiatives like electric vehicle chargers in California could be key. There are already electric vehicle chargers at some national parks in other states, including Zion National Park in Utah and Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the border between North Carolina and Tennessee. The park service is also working with other federal agencies to promote electric-vehicle use and fuel-saving measures at about a dozen other park sites. [© desertsun.com] https://www.nps.gov/transportation/news_1212.html Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Appearing In National Parks ... [dated] http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1090718_will-national-parks-become-a-black-hole-for-electric-car-visitors Will National Parks Become A Black Hole For Electric-Car Visitors? Mar 17, 2014 - Tesla Model S at Yosemite National Park, CA ... That evening, I moved our car to the single Level 2 charging station and left it ... For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/1-5M-worth-of-EVSE-coming-to-CA-national-parks-tp4682760.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
