And i know what those jobs will mean for the planet and those workers and families. Im proud to have been a u. S. Citizen for 40 years. But i arrived here as a Canadian Immigrant at age 4 brought by parents seeking opportunity. My mom is a funny and fierce irishwelsch newfy, born in newfoundland, a fish progress vin fishing province they call the rock. Like many women in her generation, she didnt go to college, but she married a great man, my dad, who passed away earlier this year of a cerebral hemorrhage. My dad was born in rural canada, in a log cabin, with no running water, and extreme poverty. His father, my grandfather, emigrated during the great depression, again, speaking opportunity. But when my grandfather could not find a job to support his young family in desperation, by grandfather shot himself, leaving my grandmother and three Young Children in dire poverty. My mother was three years old when that happened. When he was 11, my dad found work at a sawmill and never stopped working. He married my mom. They came to america for work. And despite not having a college degree, my hardworking, gentle father got the fair chance that he was looking for in america. He had started out as a bank teller and he retired as head of the bank. And its because of my familys journey and my experience in fighting for hardworking michigan families that i have become obsessed, obsessed with creating goodpaying jobs in america in a global economy. Obsessed with seizing the opportunities that a Clean Energy Future will provide for american workers. So we can stand on the sidelines and let other countries beat us to these opportunities or get in the game. And i am so ready and honored, coach, that you are putting me on the field with this amazing team to help create those jobs in every pocket of this country and especially in the hardest hit places and the people that are waiting on the fair chance that they need. Thank you for tapping me to work on their behalf. Mr. President elect, madame Vice President elect, thank you for this opportunity. Growing up as a child, hunting and fishing with my father and grand father in eastern north carolina, i developed a deep love and respect for the outdoors and our Natural Resources. But i also experienced respiratory issues that required me to use an inhaler on days when pollutants and allergens were especially dad. Ive always been curious about the connections between our environment and our health, how the world around us contributes to or detracts from our enjoyment of life. So after completing my education in environmental science, there was one place in particular that i wanted to work the epa. When i started that first summer internship, i never imagined that one day i would be nominated to lead an agency as its administrator. So this opportunity, its a dream come true. Since the start of my career, my goals have been the same, to safeguard our Natural Resources, to improve the quality of our air and our water. To protect our families and our communities, and to help them seize the opportunities of a cleaner, healthier world. Now im honored to pursue those goals with leaders who understand whats at stake. When president elect biden called out the plight of the pence line communities during fence line communities during the campaign, he made it clear we would no longer deal with the issues just up to the fence line of these facilities, but that we would see the people on the other side of those fencelines. Hes backed up that commitment by assembling a team that reflects america. And im proud to join the Vice President elect as a fellow hbcu graduate in this administration. Together, this team will ensure that Environmental Justice are top in mind when we tackle these issues. After nearly a decade at the epa, i know first hand the remarkable dedication and talent of those career stats. As a state official, i understand how actions from epa can help or hurt local efforts. Were going to understand the epa is a Strong Partner for the states, not a roadblock. We will be driven by our convictions that every person in our great country has the right to clean air, clean water, and a healthier life. No matter how much money they have in their pockets, the color of their skin, or the community that they live in. We will move with a sense of urgency on Climate Change, protecting our drinking water, and enact an Environmental Justice from time to time work that empowers people in all communities. We also know that these challenges cant be solved by regulation alone. And we also know that Environmental Protection and economic prosperity, theyre not mutually exclusive. They go hand in hand. We need an all hands on deck approach, from industry to individuals. Finding Common Ground to build back better for workers, for our communities, for our economy, and yes, for our planet. And thats what well pursue, together. I look forward to continuing this work on behalf of the American People. So thank you. Good afternoon. Mr. President elect, madame president elect madame Vice President elect, i am honored by the trust you have placed in me and i look forward to working with this incredible team. Im grateful for the chance to return to Public Service at a time when Agency Personnel are looking for optimism, and so many communities are struggling under the weight of persistent, interwoven crises. I know firsthand the challenges that everyday people face when one unexpected illness or expense can up end the economic stability of a family. I grew up in the working Class Community in connecticut, in a town not so miff from scranton, pennsylvania. I know the faces of the marginalized, and i appreciate the challenges of urban pollution. While the words Climate Change and environmental injustice were not part of the vernacular back then, the evidence of their impacts was all around. This that setting, there was plenty of opportunity to work to make a difference in peoples lives. For my parents, particularly my father, dedication to tackling Community Challenges was vitally important. Service in all its forms was essential. They taught me to be a problem solver. To recognize that each of us is blessed with different talents and we are all called to bring those gifts to bear, in whatever wherever we are to work with anyone and everyone to make things better in communities that we share. This has been the driving force and the guiding principle of my journey. I earned a High School Scholarship that changed the course of my life. I became the first person in my family to go to college. I attended law school. And at each stage, i was aware of how different the world i came from was from the one i was entering. I didnt set out to specialize in environmental issues. Once i started, i was always mirn mindful of the practical indecisions. As a staffer at the commission on human rights, i learned that ensuring the health and wellbeing of all communities had to be reconciled. It is essential that we deploy smart and human humane policy to help communities pull themselves back from the edge and improve the health, security, and prosperity of their of all people. The build back better plan is poised to breathe new life into the council on environmental equality. Ceq will work with a broad range of partners on a broad range of issues, tackle the full breadth of Climate Change. Preserve the natural treasures of our nation. Center Environmental Justice. And help more communities overcome Legacy Environmental impacts. I am grateful to the president elect and Vice President elect for elevating this work and lifting up the communities where it will make the most difference. Thank you for the opportunity to seven. Mr. President elect, madame Vice President elect, thank you so much for this opportunity to serve. And to work beside and with this incredibly talented team. You know, the issues ive been taking on in this role are very personal to me, and they have been for as long as i can remember. As keen listeners, you already guessed that i grew up in and around the city of boston. My dad was a teacher in the Boston School system store more than 40 years, and my mom waitressed at local doughnut shops. You know, looking back, i guess we were a lower middle class family, but we didnt know it. Instead of the expensive vacations, my sisters and i did our adventuring in our own backyards, maying in the woods oopse, ill take that off. Playing around in the woods and ponds around the hometown. A beach day for my family was a swim in Boston Harbor. At that point in time, it meant coming out of the water with oil and other things stuck to our skin. So we would have to dry and clean ourselves all at the same time. That was back in the 60s before the first earth day. But we managed, and Boston Harbor today is terrific. But all i can think of is back when i was in Grammar School and the nuns used to jump up and say run, close the windows, because when the rubber factory across the street started to spew chemical stenches into the air, it would come wafting into our classroom. And that smell kept us from recess more days than i or my teacher ever care to remember. So i figured out early that there was just an intrinsic connection between our environment and our health. And that understanding drew me into a very long career of Public Service. Which i will never regret and always cherish. And i did it because trying to help families and Communities Just like mine. And those who are facing certainly much steeper and more instead use legacies of environmental so they could overcome the challenges that were holding them back. Environmental protection is part of my moral fiber. Its what i live for. And im proud of the progress that weve made across the United States and im proud of the work that i did for many years at local and state governments, as well as at epa to make sure our air and water were cleaner, to make communities safer and more liveable. And to begin to confront the crisis of Climate Change. And im here today because Climate Change is not only a threat to the planet, it is a threat to our health and our wellbeing. Its a threat to people everywhere, and the precious Natural Resources that we depend on. Defeating this threat is the fight of our lifetimes. And our success will require the engagement of every community, every sector in our nation, and every country in the world. But the opportunities to act on Climate Change right now fill me with incredible optimism, with hope, with energy, and with excitement. We not only have the responsibility to meet this moment together, we have the capacity to meet this moment together. The president elect has put together the strongest climate plan ever raised to this level of leadership. It rises to the incredible moment of opportunity we have to build back better, for our health, for jobs, and for communities that have been systematically disadvantaged for years. It will be my incredible honor to help turn this plan into promises kept, by marshaling every part of our government, working directly with communities and harnessing the force of science and the values of Environmental Justice. To build a Better Future for my two very soontobe three little grandchildren. And for generations of americans to come. So thank you for this opportunity to help put americans back to work in innovative, good paying clean energy jobs, to improve the health of our communities, and to help clear the path for people in every hometown in america, to live brighter, cleaner, and more vibrant lives. Thank you. Thank you, president elect biden and Vice President elect harris. I am deeply honored to answer your call to serve this nation that i love, especially at this moment of consequence. For our planet, and for the people who live here, the peril of the Climate Crisis is already evident. But we can also see the promise in the jobs casting and machining, installing and rewiring, pouring new foundations and building new industries. And in the possibility of repairing communities hurt, places where pollution has been heavy, and opportunity has never quite reached. Mr. President elect and madame Vice President elect, you campaigned on delivering that promise by mounting a response equal to the existential threat that we face. Not only by listening to the science, but also by invigorating the economy, revving up manufacturing and innovation. Spurring good paying union jobs. And advancing justice long overdue. Leading by the example of america at its best. When my parents moved from pakistan to pennsylvania, they brought two little kids and a few suitcases of dreams. Dreams their kids are living today. Danish, my brother, a doctor on the frontlines of the covid crisis. And me, moving to the frontlines of the fight against Climate Change. To be healthy, to have purpose, to be able to give back. That is how our parents taught us to define the american dream. I am so grateful to be serving alongside the seem you have assembled. Grateful for gina mccarthy, my good friend. For the inspiring leaders on this stage, and for those with whom well partner all across your administration. This has been a trying year for all americans marked by so much loss. But throughout, you, sir, have been there for us. And when the pandemic hit closer to home, you were there for me. Mr. President elect, that is who you are, a person of faith and family, of decency and goodness. Your leadership gives me hope. My students, scientists imagining and inventing, they give me hope. Young organizers, mobilizing and advocating, they give me hope. And together, i know we will meet this moment. Thank you and god bless you. Good afternoon. A few months ago, as wildfires raged across the west, i traveled home to california. What i saw on that trip and so many others in recent years was heartbreaking. Charred playgrounds, homes and neighborhoods in ashes, firefighters battling fires while their own homes burned to the ground. My brotherinlaw is actually a firefighter in california, as well. Some of the most toxic air anywhere in the world. Two years ago, in 2018, when i visited communities like paradise, california, that had been devastated by wildfires, that years fire season was considered the worst in californias history. This fire season was even worse. The worst in californias history, and americas history. Of course, fires are only one symptom of our growing Climate Crisis. In recent years, families across the midwest have experienced historic flooding, while families all along our coast have endured some of the most active hurricane seasons on record. They only name a storm if its particularly dangerous. This year, we had more named storms than ever before. Our Climate Crisis is not a partisan issue. And it is not a hoax. It is an existential threat to all of us, particularly poor communities and communities of color who bear the greatest risks from polluted air, polluted water, and a failing infrastructure. Many years ago, 15 years ago when i was District Attorney in san francisco, i created the first Environmental Justice unit in the city and one of the first in our country. Because i believed then, as i do now, everyone has a right to breathe clean air and drink clean water. Of course, so does our president elect biden. Part of the season i was so proud to join joe biden as his running mate was because he was proposing one of the most ambitious climate plans in history. A plan to secure Carbon Pollution free electricity by 2035. A plan to achieve net zero emissions no later than 2050. A plan to invest in a Clean Energy Future and create millions of goodpaying, union jobs along the way. And the team that president elect biden and i are announcing today will help make that plan a reality. These are some of our countrys most seasoned Public Servants and climate experts. They have experience mastering the most effective ways to get things done when it comes to Climate Change. They recognize the importance of bringing together the private sector and organized labor, together with government. To meet these challenges and to confront this crisis head on with our allies and partners around the world. And they are compassionate leaders, who understand that ultima ultimately, addressing Climate Change is about building Safer Communities and healthier communities and Thriving Communities for all americans. These Public Servants reflect the very best of america, and they are the team we need to meet this urgent challenge. In his 2015 and cyclical, the holy father pope francis wrote humanity still has the ability to Work Together in building our common home. Starting on january 20th, we will