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NC DENR Secretary van der Vaart on the prowl

Another week. Another scathing, defensive editorial from Secretary Donald van der Vaart, head of the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

One might assume that as the leader of our state environmental agency, Secretary van der Vaart’s rage would be directed toward members of the NC General Assembly who have been working all session to gut sound environmental policies. One especially egregious anti-environmental bill passed during this session include the elimination of our State Environmental Protection Act (SEPA), a 40-year-old law designed to protect both state waters and state taxpayer dollars by requiring an environmental impact study for major development projects. Governor McCrory quickly signed this bill, essentially wiping out a bill that was rooted in the values of transparency and financial stewardship. Interesting move.

There are also several bills in the legislative “hopper” that would reduce the number of air quality monitors, cut back rules on riparian buffers (nature’s first line of defense for filtering our water AND protecting our communities from flooding), and allowing polluters a pass to self-audit, giving them an out for paying any penalties or fines for destruction to our air, land, and water.

Or, Secretary van der Vaart might have rebuffed the multiple attempts Koch-funded legislators made to insert language into bills requiring a freeze on our state’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards (REPS). Passed with bipartisan approval in 2007, our state REPS policy has brought nearly $2 billion in investment and has created more than 45,000 jobs, with more than 4,000 currently employed in our state’s solar sector.

Despite citing in his recent News & Observer editorial that our state is a “national leader in renewable energy,” Secretary van der Vaart launches into an assault on NC Attorney General Roy Cooper’s refusal to oppose the Clean Power Plan.

Let’s back up and do a quick overview: in early August, President Obama and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the final carbon pollution reduction targets for each state. Better known as the Clean Power Plan, this policy aims to address carbon pollution released from existing coal-fired power plants. As you read this, there are NO limits to carbon pollution from these sources, which are often the most dangerous to surrounding communities and to overall air quality. States are able to customize their approaches to achieving the targets, whether by adding improved technologies to investing in other forms of energy production, including renewables.

Here’s how the White House believes the Clean Power Plan can improve the health, lower energy costs, and reduce dangerous pollution for all North Carolinians.

Secretary van der Vaart has made it crystal clear here, here, and here that he views the Clean Power Plan as extreme federal government overreach. Governor Pat McCrory and his administration responded to the Clean Power Plan’s release by vowing to take the U.S. EPA to court. North Carolina was not the only state to respond in such a disheartening manner. But, we seem to be the only state whose Attorney General didn’t jump on the bandwagon along with its Governor.

Per Attorney General Cooper, the state government’s plan to sue the U.S. EPA rather than develop a state plan to comply puts the people and natural resources of North Carolina at risk.

“Although this legislation poses constitutional questions, I am even more concerned that this action will risk North Carolina’s well-deserved reputation for protecting the quality of our air, recruiting businesses that produce cutting-edged technologies and offering leadership around the world on energy issues,” Cooper wrote in a letter to legislative leaders.

Speaking of businesses that bring jobs and investment to our state, 29 have already publicly called on Governor McCrory to implement the Clean Power Plan in a timely manner. As outlined in the letter, business leaders and investors ranging from VF Corporation to Wespath Investment Management, note that: “Clean energy solutions are cost effective and innovative ways to drive investment and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Increasingly, businesses rely on renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions to cut costs and improve corporate performance.” You can read the letter in its entirety here.

So, where does this leave us, as citizens of the state? The Secretary of the agency whose mission is explicitly “to protect North Carolina’s environment and natural resources” appears to be spending more time fighting policies that would do as much (or, potentially even worse, advocating on behalf of Big Oil to open our coastal waters to the ravishes of offshore oil & gas drilling).

It behooves all of us to recall who appointed Secretary van der Vaart to office in late 2014. Governor McCrory is at the top of the decision-tree, and we are holding him accountable for ensuring North Carolina transitions to a clean energy future. Join the wave of North Carolinians who are tired of our leader refusing to move forward in developing a NC Clean Power Plan. Add your name to the list of citizens who want to see our state transition to a future build on clean energy, clean air, and clean elections. We refuse to allow our leaders to waste our taxpayer dollars fighting a policy that will save the lives of our family and friends.

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