Donald van der Vaart

Court rules for NCGA on boards, judicial appointments

January 16, 2026 A.P. Dillon

RALEIGH — The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 in favor of the General Assembly over Gov. Josh Stein in the lawsuit involving a state law that changed certain appointments last Wednesday. Court of Appeals Judge […]

Stein appeals ruling on boards, commissions appointments

August 3, 2025 A.P. Dillon

RALEIGH — North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein filed a motion July 23 appealing a portion of a ruling that sided with a law removing his appointment power to the N.C. Utilities Board and Building Code […]

Dobbs Building_Via NC Utilities Commission

Van der Vaart nominated to NC Utilities Commission

May 8, 2025 A.P. Dillon

RALEIGH — North Carolina Treasurer Brad Briner has nominated Donald van der Vaart, the former secretary of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, to serve on the North Carolina Utilities Commission. “North Carolinians need a […]

Dr. Donald van der Vaart named to judicial post

July 2, 2021 North State Journal Staff

RALEIGH – Chief Justice Paul Newby appointed Dr. Donald van der Vaart as the new Chief Administrative Law Judge and Director of the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH). OAH is a quasi-judicial agency that provides administrative law […]

Loss of pipeline also means end of controversial ‘mitigation fund’

July 10, 2020 Matt Mercer

RALEIGH – The decision over the July 4th weekend by Dominion Energy and Duke Energy to cancel the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project also means the $57.8 million ‘mitigation fund’ negotiated by Gov. Roy Cooper will […]

Environmental rules commission will consider ban on payments for permits

July 7, 2020 North State Journal Staff

RALEIGH — The former secretary of the N.C. Dept. of Environmental Quality, who now serves on the state’s environmental rulemaking commission, has proposed rulemaking that would make money exchanged for permits illegal. Emails obtained by […]

VAN DER VAART: Rejecting fossil fuels comes at high cost

January 9, 2019 admin

We hear people say we should combat global warming, but it may not always be clear what that really means — even to the people urging us to join the cause. Recent events in our […]

Kings Mountain Energy Center begins operations

September 5, 2018 Emily Roberson

KINGS MOUNTAIN, NC – Cleveland County officially became home to what has been touted as one of the cleanest and most efficient power plants in the nation last week, as NTE Energy’s Kings Mountain Energy […]

VAN DER VAART: GHG emissions declines continue without federal regulation

July 25, 2018 admin

The latest annual report by British Petroleum on Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions once again serves to remind us that the previous administration’s so-called Clean Power Plan (CPP) may simply have been an attempt to claim […]

Pruitt taps van der Vaart for federal science advisory board

October 31, 2017 North State Journal Staff

WASHINGTON, D.C. — EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has tapped Donald van der Vaart, N.C.’s former environment secretary, to the federal agency’s Scientific Advisory Board. Once considered a contender to lead EPA, van der Vaart served […]