Speaking as someone who has been on both ends of the stick at various times, I cannot take pleasure at the news that someone is losing his job.  And yet, because the shrinkage of the bureaucracy at all levels of government is such an important goal, it was encouraging to read this News-&-Observer piece over the weekend about the elimination of over eighty positions in the NC Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR) so far this year.  And anything that provokes such alarm in the Sierra Club is likely to be a very good thing.

From the article, this bit:

“The loss of staff at EEP raises the question of whether the state of North Carolina will continue to provide high quality mitigation services in the future to protect our wetlands and water quality,” said Cassie Gavin, director of governmental relations for the North Carolina chapter of the Sierra Club.

Environmental groups across the state have expressed alarm about regulatory rollbacks, budget cuts and staff reductions imposed by the General Assembly and Governor Pat McCrory’s administration.  DENR Secretary John Skvarla has come under particular criticism because of his “customer-friendly” philosophy, honed while he clashed with regulators when he was in the private sector.

The full article, behind the N-&-O paywall and including some history of one of the targeted DENR agencies, is HERE.