The U.S. Senate has confirmed Gina McCarthy as the next administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). President Barack Obama announced his nomination in March for McCarthy to replace outgoing EPA administrator Lisa Jackson.
Most recently, McCarthy served as assistant administrator for the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation. Prior to that role, McCarthy was an environmental official in Massachusetts and Connecticut, where she helped design programs to encourage renewable energy development and promote energy efficiency.
President Obama says he is pleased by McCarthy's confirmation.
"With years of experience at the state and local level, Gina is a proven leader who knows how to build bipartisan support for commonsense environmental solutions that protect the health and safety of our kids while promoting economic growth," the president says in a statement." Over the past four years, I have valued Gina's counsel, and I look forward to having her in my cabinet as we work to slow the effects of climate change and leave a cleaner environment for future generations."
As part of his recently announced Climate Action Plan, Obama issued a presidential memorandum that ordered the EPA to devise carbon pollution standards for new and existing power plants in the U.S.
