On July 18, Gina McCarthy was confirmed as EPA Administrator by the United States Senate, 4 1/2 months after she was nominated by President Barak Obama.
The Senate voted 59-40 on Thursday to confirm the controversial nomination of Gina McCarthy to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. GOP Sens. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Susan Collins (Maine), Bob Corker (Tenn.), Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Kelly Ayotte (N.H.) and John McCain (Ariz.) voted for McCarthy’s confirmation, while Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) joined most Republicans in voting against her nomination.
The official EPA profile of Administrator McCarthy follows at the end of this post.
Praise for the appointment came swiftly from environmental groups. The news release of Natural Resources Defense Council is here. The Sierra Club statement is here.
McCarthy assumes her post amidst high expectations that she will be an effective advocate for President Obama’s recently announced climate plan. She will assume a large burden. The president’s strategy is executive and regulatory, not legislative, and McCarthy will often occupy the hot seat if new rules and initiatives roll out.
As we reported on June 26:
[T]here is little role for Congress in his climate strategy. Instead, the plan is heavy on executive actions and agency rule making. It is unlikely the House majority will sit quietly for this Obama end run, or the apparent attack on the coal industry.
. . . The effectiveness of his limited reserve of political capital in the face of House and industry objections will likely be determined by political realities that have little to do with the rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
All may not be rosy with her climate allies either. McCarthy may face intense heat from environmentalists if President Obama follows through on his commitment to support development of fracking and nuclear power.
Here is her official EPA profile:
Gina McCarthy is the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Appointed by President Obama in 2009 as Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, Gina McCarthy has been a leading advocate for common-sense strategies to protect public health and the environment.
Previously, McCarthy served as the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. In her 30-year career, she has worked at both the state and local levels on critical environmental issues and helped coordinate policies on economic growth, energy, transportation and the environment.
McCarthy received a Bachelor of Arts in Social Anthropology from the University of Massachusetts at Boston and a joint Master of Science in Environmental Health Engineering and Planning and Policy from Tufts University.
When she is not in D.C., McCarthy lives in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts with her husband and two dogs, just a short bike ride away from their three children, Daniel, Maggie and Julie, who work in Boston.
