Tag: Michael Regan

EPA dismisses dozens of key science advisers picked under Trump

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The Biden administration says it needs to restore trust in the agency by ‘resetting’ membership on two key science advisory panels.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan will purge more than 40 outside experts appointed under President Donald Trump from two key advisory panels, a move he says will help restore the role of science at the agency and reduce the heavy influence of industry over environmental regulations.

The unusual decision, announced Wednesday, will sweep away outside researchers picked under the previous administration whose expert advice helped the agency craft regulations related to air pollution, the oil-and-gas extraction method known as fracking and other issues.

Critics say that, under Trump, membership of the two panels — the EPA’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) and Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) — tilted too heavily in favor of regulated industries and that their positions sometimes contradicted scientific consensus. Continue reading.

New EPA administrator: ‘Science is back’

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In his first interview as the nation’s top environmental official, Michael Regan says he is focused on restoring morale at the agency, combatting climate change and lifting up communities burdened by pollution

Michael Regan has bold aspirations, and a long to-do list, as President Biden’s newly confirmed Environmental Protection Agency administrator.

He wants to hasten the nation’s shift to cleaner forms of energy, make transformational investments in communities battered by decades of pollution, and improve air and water quality around the country. But to accomplish any of that, the 44-year-old administrator said Monday, he must first help the EPA get its groove back.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, starting with rebuilding the staff morale and getting all of our staff back to feeling as if they matter, their voices matter,” Regan said in his first interview after being sworn in last week. “We really have to restore the scientific integrity and the utilization of data, of facts, as we move forward and make some very important decisions.” Continue reading.

With historic picks, Biden puts environmental justice front and center

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The selection of the first Native American interior secretary and first Black male EPA chief highlights pollution disparities

President-elect Joe Biden chose Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) Thursday to serve as the first Native American Cabinet secretary and head the Interior Department, a historic pick that marks a turning point for the U.S. government’s relationship with the nation’s Indigenous peoples.

With that selection and others this week, Biden sent a clear message that top officials charged with confronting the nation’s environmental problems will have a shared experience with the Americans who have disproportionately been affected by toxic air and polluted land.

“A voice like mine has never been a Cabinet secretary or at the head of the Department of Interior,” Haaland tweeted Thursday night. “ … I’ll be fierce for all of us, our planet, and all of our protected land.” Continue reading.

Biden set to select top North Carolina environmental official to lead EPA

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President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday selected Michael Regan to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), picking a longtime EPA insider to lead the agency.

Regan, 44, is currently the secretary for North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), the state’s EPA equivalent. He would be the first Black man to hold the role of EPA chief.

He previously worked for the EPA under the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations before heading to the Environmental Defense Fund as its southeast regional director. Continue reading.