Skip to main content

Climate Change Policy to Play a Big Role Under EPA's New Boss

Support Provided By
EPA-screenshot-7-22-13-thumb-600x330-56082
Screenshot from Gina McCarthy's address video | Image: Environmental Protection Agency

Gina McCarthy, the incoming Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), delivered a video address to EPA staff Monday that leaves no doubt addressing climate change will be a priority on her watch.

In the video address, now making the rounds on social media, McCarthy also mentions the nation's crumbling water quality infrastructure and streamlining chemical pollution regulations, which she says must be brought up to date "to be fair to industry and so that we can say we're protecting the American public."

"We have a clear responsibility to act now on climate change," said McCarthy. "That's what President Obama has called on us and the American people so that [sic] we protect future generations. And he recently said 'The question now is whether we have the courage to act before it's too late.' This agency has the courage to act. We can make it happen. But we need all hands on deck."

Fairly tough words given the climate change denialism still rampant in Washington.

McCarthy was confirmed as EPA administrator Thursday after months of punitive partisan stalling on the part of Republicans in the Senate.

As the D.C. blog The Hill reported earlier this month, the EPA intends to deliver proposed greenhouse gas emission rules for power plants in September. Those are bound to be controversial among coal-friendly Republicans on Capitol Hill. The EPA intends to regulate those greenhouse gas emissions under the federal Clean Air Act. That's a strategy that won a significant legal victory in 2012 when the D.C. Circuit Court ruled the agency had the legal authority to do so, in response to an industry lawsuit claiming that EPA was overstepping its bounds in applying that law to CO2 emissions.

Watch McCarthy's address:

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy's message to emplo

Support Provided By
Read More
A row of cows stands in individual cages along a line of light-colored enclosures, placed along a dirt path under a blue sky dotted with white puffy clouds.

A Battle Is Underway Over California’s Lucrative Dairy Biogas Market

California is considering changes to a program that has incentivized dairy biogas, to transform methane emissions into a source of natural gas. Neighbors are pushing for an end to the subsidies because of its impact on air quality and possible water pollution.
A Black woman with long, black brains wears a black Chicago Bulls windbreaker jacket with red and white stripes as she stands at the top of a short staircase in a housing complex and rests her left hand on the metal railing. She smiles slightly while looking directly at the camera.

Los Angeles County Is Testing AI's Ability To Prevent Homelessness

In order to prevent people from becoming homeless before it happens, Los Angeles County officials are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to predict who in the county is most likely to lose their housing. They would then step in to help those people with their rent, utility bills, car payments and more so they don't become unhoused.
blue themed graphic including electric vehicles are charging stations, wind turbines and trees, 2023 in reference to year

A Look Back at Climate Solutions In 2023

The U.S. may have a long way to go in its decarbonization goals, but these stories show signs of progress in climate solutions.