Biden picks North Carolina environment chief Michael Regan to lead EPA, filling critical post for his climate agenda: Reports Print this article
President-elect Joe Biden is expected to tap North Carolina s top environment official Michael Regan to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, according to multiple newsreports.
As EPA chief, Regan is poised to play a critical role in implementing Biden’s climate agenda, the most aggressive of any president. He will also be tasked with spearheading the undoing of Trump-era actions that weakened or eliminated climate and environmental regulations.
It’s likely the EPA under Biden will seek to ramp up greenhouse gas emissions controls for certain sectors of the economy beyond what the Obama administration instituted. For example, Biden has pledged to issue stricter fuel economy standards for passenger cars and limit emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from oil and gas production.
NC Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Michael Regan is the President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for EPA administrator, according to multiple news sources.
Policy Watch reported yesterday that Regan was the leading contender for the job. A Goldsboro native, Regan has been DEQ secretary since 2017; he was appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper.
A DEQ spokesperson could not be reached for comment.
Regan worked at the EPA for nine years in the late ’90s and mid-’00s before joining the Environmental Defense Fund.
EDF issued this statement from Hawley Truax, Southeast Regional Director of Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). Regan previous served as EDF’s Southeast regional director.
4 Min Read
(Reuters) - President-elect Joe Biden plans to nominate Michael Regan, North Carolina’s top environmental regulator, to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, three sources with knowledge of the discussions said on Thursday.
FILE PHOTO: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sign is seen on the podium at EPA headquarters in Washington, U.S., July 11, 2018. REUTERS/Ting Shen/File Photo
If confirmed by the Senate, Regan would become the first Black person to run the EPA and one of the key players in Biden’s agenda to reverse environmental rollbacks under outgoing President Donald Trump and fight climate change by bringing the U.S. economy to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The EPA administrator is the top U.S. environmental regulator.