Environment Maine Praises Senators for Confirming Gina McCarthy to Lead the EPA

Environment Maine

Environment Maine Praises Senators for Confirming Gina McCarthy to Lead the EPA

Portland, Maine — The U.S. Senate today confirmed Gina McCarthy as the new Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King voted to confirm Ms. McCarthy. The confirmation comes just weeks after President Obama instructed the EPA to take historic action to cut carbon pollution from power plants as part of his plan to fight global warming. Environment Maine Director Emily Figdor issued the following statement in response:

“Gina McCarthy’s confirmation is great news for Maine’s environment.

“Ms. McCarthy’s impressive work under both Democratic and Republican governors, coupled with her track record at the EPA over the last four years, give me great confidence she’ll be able to break through the gridlock in Washington and make real strides tackling our country’s most pressing environmental problems.

“Ms. McCarthy has already achieved a lot in her time at the EPA, but much work remains putting to use the many solutions we have to our environmental problems. Her three big achievements so far include advancing new federal clean car standards that represent the biggest step the U.S. has ever taken to get off oil and tackle global warming; the first-ever federal limits on mercury pollution from power plants; and the first-ever proposed federal limits on carbon pollution from new power plants.

“Now, we’re counting on the EPA to finalize carbon limits for new and existing power plants — the largest sources of global warming pollution — as outlined in President Obama’s recently announced Climate Action Plan. In addition, the EPA must establish environmental standards for pipelines carrying tar sands, restore protections for all the nation’s waterways, and limit pollution from factory farms. EPA also must deal with the tremendous health and environmental threats from fracking.

“I thank Senators Collins and King for voting to confirm Gina McCarthy as the new EPA Administrator.

“Environment Maine looks forward to working with the EPA and its new chief to address our most pressing environmental challenges.”

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Environment Maine is a citizen-based environmental advocacy organization working to preserve Maine’s open spaces, protect clean air and water, and steer the state toward a clean energy future. For more information, please visit www.environmentmaine.org