Washington, DC — President-elect Joe Biden has chosen Michael Regan, head of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. In this position, he will play a key role in actualizing Biden’s climate agenda, addressing environmental racism, and ensuring a transition to renewable energy. He will be in charge of fuel-efficiency standards, regulating emissions from power plants and fossil fuel projects, and cleaning up toxic pollution. If confirmed, Regan will be the first Black man to run the EPA.
350.org Associate Director of Policy Natalie Mebane gave the following response:
“We support Biden’s choice of Regan, an experienced and dedicated environmental leader, as EPA administrator. Biden’s collaboration with Regan will be key to fulfilling the administration’s mandate to face the accelerating climate crisis at scale, starting first with the reversal of the Trump administration’s harmful rollbacks. We urge Regan to ensure a decisive transition away from fossil fuels and towards a renewable, regenerative economy, and to hold fossil fuel corporations accountable for the irreparable damage they’ve inflicted on our communities and planet. We will work with the EPA to ensure they prioritize the needs of Black, Indigenous, and communities of color who disproportionately face the impacts of toxic pollution.”
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