Source: Julie Mayfield, NEWS & OBSERVER, 9/30/15

(Julie Mayfield is co-director of MountainTrue, a conservation organization focused on 23 Western North Carolina counties)

NC DEQ Secretary Donald van der Vaart – our state’s top environmental cop – raised a few eyebrows recently when he sent out an invitation to a party this week at his agency. Come celebrate North Carolina’s clean air, the secretary’s invite gushed, and the Department of Environmental Quality staff who accomplished this great achievement.

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