Melissa Lomax: Not McCrory’s doing

Regarding the Aug. 15 Point of View “Cooper’s puzzling EPA stance”: Secretary Donald van der Vaart is using his position at DENR as a political tool instead of as a position of true public service.

He stated “that under Gov. Pat McCrory’s leadership, North Carolina’s air quality is among the best in the Southeast.” It is true that North Carolina has cleaner air than in years past, but the governor can hardly claim credit. Improving our air quality has been decades in the making and took leadership and foresight in creating initiatives like the Clean Smokestacks Act and the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard.

It would be better to hear from the secretary as to what the McCrory administration is going to do going forward to benefit our air and water, rather than taking credit for the actions of predecessors.

This story was originally published August 29, 2015 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Melissa Lomax: Not McCrory’s doing."