Dive Brief:
President-elect Joe Biden has tapped North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Secretary Michael Regan to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, multiple news outlets reported Thursday.
Mary Nichols, who leads the California Air Resources Board, was originally projected to be the favorite but her appointment reportedly fizzled after environmental justice groups raised concerns, calling her record on environmental racism bleak. Regan will be the first Black man to lead the EPA, if confirmed by the Senate.
Under Regan s watch at the DEQ, Duke Energy agreed to the largest coal ash cleanup in U.S. history, and environmentalists lauded his appointment to the federal agency.
FOE Statement on the appointment of Michael Regan to head the EPA
FOE Statement on the appointment of Michael Regan to head the EPA
December 17, 2020
WASHINGTON, D.C.- In response to reports that President-elect Joe Biden plans to nominate Michael Regan to be the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency,
Friends of the Earth’s Senior Fossil Fuels Campaigner and a recognized leader in the environmental justice movement nationwide, Donna Chavis, issued the following statement:
While we are disappointed that Secretary Regan will likely be nominated as EPA Administrator by President-elect Biden, we are prepared to work with the Agency and the Biden Administration on policies that support a healthy and just world. Because the environmental and climate challenges that we face are immense and escalating, the EPA has to do more than simply regain lost ground; the agency has to forge a whole new path. This moment requires strong, visionary leadership rooted in envir
Michael Regan: Joe Biden picks North Carolina head of Environmental Quality to be next EPA Administrator 6abc.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from 6abc.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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.