People in the news

Kathleen A. McGinty

Board member, NRG Energy, Inc. (since July 2008)

(PA Dept.
Environmental Protection)

Why She Matters

McGinty was just 29 in 1993 when she was tapped to join the Clinton administration as head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). Later, she earned a national reputation as Pennsylvania's top environmental official, a position she held until July 2008. Although she is not necessarily part of President Barack Obama's inner circle, her solid environmental credentials and federal experience make her a prime candidate for a leading role in the new administration.

As head of Clinton's CEQ, she coordinated federal environmental efforts and worked with agencies and other White House offices to develop environmental policies and initiatives. The council chair is supposed to serve as the "principal environmental policy adviser to the president," and McGinty was the first - and, to date, only - woman to serve in that post.

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: Head of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (2003-2008); head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (1993-1998)
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pa.

Alma Mater: St. Joseph's Univeristy, B.S. (chemistry); Columbia Law School, J.D., 1988
Spouse: Dr. Karl Hausker

Path to Power

McGinty was born in Pennsylvania and earned a chemistry degree from Saint Joseph's University.

She worked for a brief time as a research chemist for the energy company Atlantic Richfield Chemical Company (ARCO), where she was assigned to a project to design a coal dust suppressant in order to meet ambient air quality standards in mining operations. She went on to obtain her law degree at Columbia University School of Law in 1988.

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The Issues

As Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection secretary, McGinty's chief accomplishments included setting tough mercury emission standards for coal-fired power plants, challenging the Bush administration on clean air standards, and developing an Aternative Energy Portfolio Standard for the state.

McGinty's work in Pennsylvania often put her at odds with industry groups and the state legislature, who weren't always as enthusiastic about the agency's agenda. Yet McGinty argued that she approached environmental regulation from a pro-economic growth perspective. "My approach to environmental challenges, from my first days in working in the environmental area, has been to see in them economic opportunities in disguise -- to see that an environmental problem is really some business's invitation to invent a new technology, to enhance productivity, to improve efficiency, and to grow their bottom line," she said in an interview with Grist in 2005.

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In July 2008, she was by Gov. Ed Rendell's (D) side when he signed into law a $650 million energy investment fund for the state, intended to ramp up renewable energy and efficiency in the state, and attract new, green businesses. On that same day, McGinty submitted her letter of resignation to the governor's office.

Clean Air Act

Not long after McGinty became Pennsylvania's top environmental watchdog, McGinty took on the Bush administration's efforts to undermine the New Source Review rules of the Clean Air Act, which had required industries to install pollution-control equipment when they upgrade their facilities. Pennsylvania, along with nine other states, filed suit to block the new, more lenient rules from taking effect.

Alternative Energy

In 2004, McGinty helped gather support for an Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard, which requires 18 percent of the state's energy come from clean sources by 2020. The state plan includes two tiers of qualified sources that can meet the standard. Tier 1 sources - including wind, solar, coal mine methane, small hydropower, geothermal, and biomass - must make up eight percent of the overall sources.

The rules also specifically state that solar energy should account for .5 percent of power by 2020, which is more than any state had previously mandated. Tier 2 sources - waste coal, demand side management, large hydropower, municipal solid waste, and coal integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) - should account for the remaining 10 percent of the portfolio.

Of course, environmentalists weren't as excited about the fossil-fuel sources included in the mandate, but the mandate made Pennsylvania the first industrial state that produces a large amount of coal to adopt this kind of legislation. But both greens and business-types cheered when the plan helped attract the Spanish wind-energy company Gamesa to the state, where they are setting up four manufacturing plants as well as their U.S. corporate headquarters.

Mercury Reduction

McGinty was also a key figure when, in 2006, Pennsylvania became the first coal-producing state to reject the federal EPA's weak mercury rule and instead put forward its own mercury-reduction requirements. The Pennsylvania proposal would cut mercury emissions 90 percent by 2015 - which is big news in a state that was emitting nearly 4 tons of mercury a year from 36 coal-fired power plants.

The Network

As both a former Gore Senate staffer and as Bill Clinton's CEQ chair, McGinty worked closely with Carol M. Browner, who headed the Environmental Protection Agency during the Clinton years.

Browner is the new White House energy czar, and during the transition headed up the president's Energy and Environment Policy Working Group.

Additional Resources