1 of 8 FILE - In this Sept. 18, 2019, file photo, California Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols, with California Gov. Gavin Newsom at left, discusses the Trump administration s pledge to revoke California s authority to set vehicle emissions standards that are different than the federal standards, during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif. Nichols term leading the state ARB ends in December 2020. She s held the role since 2007 after an earlier stint as chair in the early 1980s. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
2 of 8 FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2019, file photo, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, second from right, tours the solar panels atop the building housing the California Environmental Protection Agency, accompanied by Attorney General Xavier Becerra, left, California Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols, and California EPA Director Jared Blumenfeld, right, in Sacramento, Calif. Nichols term leading the state ARB ends in December 2020. She s
22 Dec 2020
The same people who backed and took part in protests in cities across the United States in the name of racial justice are now pressuring President-elect Joe Biden to reward them for their votes with positions in his administration.
“There was a mandate,” Gladys Limón, executive director of California Environmental Justice Alliance, told the
San Francisco Chronicle. “This is a litmus test.”
Biden’s first pick, for example, to head the Environmental Protection Agency, Mary Nichols, who is the head of the California Air Resources Board, drew opposition from this sector of Biden supporters.
“It’s encouraging that President-elect Biden appears to have listened to the concerns of the environmental justice advocates who reminded him of his campaign promises,” Limón said.
Racial justice advocates flex power, ask Biden to do more than check the box
FacebookTwitterEmail
1of2
California Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols, shown with Gov. Gavin Newsom last year, was President-elect Joe Biden’s favorite to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. After protests over her record on environmental justice, Biden nominated Michael Regan, a Black man.Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press 2019Show MoreShow Less
2of2
Michael Regan, who has focused on justice as North Carolina’s top environmental official, would be the first Black man to head the EPA
The racial justice movement that packed the streets of scores of U.S. cities last summer is flexing its muscle now to influence President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet picks and potentially a high-profile appointment that Gov. Gavin Newsom will soon make.
WASHINGTON (AP) Joe Biden is picking deal-makers and fighters to lead a climate team he’ll ask to remake and clean up the nation’s transportation and power-plant systems, and as fast as politically possible.
While the president-elect s picks have the experience to do the heavy lifting required in a climate overhaul of the U.S. economy, they also seem to be reassuring skeptics that he won’t neglect the low-income, working class and minority communities hit hardest by fossil fuel pollution and climate change.
Progressives, energy lobbyists, environmental groups and auto workers on Wednesday welcomed Biden’s choice of popular former Mayor Pete Buttigieg as transportation secretary. His expected picks of former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm for energy secretary and former Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy as leader of domestic climate efforts also were met with general applause.
Ellen Knickmeyer And Matthew Daly
Former South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg, President-elect Joe Biden s nominee to be transportation secretary, speaks as Biden looks on during a news conference at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool via AP) December 17, 2020 - 5:42 PM
WASHINGTON - Joe Biden wrapped up a team heavy on deal-makers and fighters to lead his climate effort Thursday, tasking it with remaking and cleaning up the nationâs transportation and power-plant systems, and as fast as politically possible.
While the president-elect s picks have the experience to do the heavy lifting required in a climate overhaul of the U.S. economy, they also seem to be reassuring skeptics that he wonât neglect the low-income, working class and minority communities hit hardest by fossil fuel pollution and climate change.