Washington, DC — President-elect Joe Biden has selected Gina McCarthy, President of the Natural Resource Defense Council and former EPA Administrator under President Obama as the White House’s head of domestic climate policy. She will coordinate President-elect Biden’s national climate agenda as a senior advisor at the White House. Biden has also nominated former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm to lead the Department of Energy. Granholm, if confirmed by the Senate, would be only the second woman to lead the department. She would help Biden carry out his energy plan, which includes the proposal to spend US$2 trillion over four years on clean energy projects and end carbon emissions from power plants by 2035. The agency would play a key role in phasing the U.S. off of fossil fuels.
350.org Associate Director of Policy Natalie Mebane gave the following response:
“Biden has chosen two powerhouse leaders who will stick to a bold and ambitious climate agenda. Gina McCarthy as senior advisor on climate to the White House and Jennifer Granholm as energy secretary is exactly the kind of cabinet picks we want to see, showing positive steps in the right direction.
“McCarthy is a doer: we see this in her invaluable expertise in the field, her track record of pushing against fossil fuel dependency, and her role in developing the Clean Power Plan and rules to increase fuel efficiency in automobiles during the Obama Administration. We look forward to working with her to forge a pathway to completely phase out fossil fuels.
“Granholm has a long history supporting a just transition to a renewable energy economy. She supported clean energy initiatives in her two terms as Governor and strived to diversify Michigan’s economy, including urging the production of more electric vehicles, while moving away from fossil fuels toward solar and wind. We look forward to working with both McCarthy and Granholm to reverse course on four years of climate destruction and meet the scale of the climate crisis.”
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