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Regina McCarthy

Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Office of Air and Radiation (since June 2009)

(EPA.gov)

Why She Matters

Environmentalists applauded when Obama selected McCarthy to head the office in charge of keeping America's air clean.

Nearly three decades of fighting pollution and climate change in Connecticut and Massachusetts made her a great fit to head the Office of Air and Radiation at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: Administrator, Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (2004 to 2009); Deputy Secretary of Operations, Massachusetts Office of Commonwealth Development (2003 to 2004); Assistant secretary of Pollution Prevention, Environmental Business and Technology for Massachusetts (1999 to 2003)
Hometown: Boston, Mass.
Alma Mater: University of Massachusetts at Boston, B.A. (Social Anthropology), 1976; Tufts University, joint M.S. (Environmental health Engineering / Planning and Policy)
Religion: Catholic

Office: Office of Air and RadiationUS EPA1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NWWashington, DC 20760(866) 411-4372
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Path to Power

Raised Irish-Catholic, McCarthy grew up in the Dorchester neighborhood of South Boston before moving with her family to the southern suburb of Canton along with much of South Boston's Irish community.

McCarthy attended college close to home at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, where she earned a B.A. in social anthropology in 1976.

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She went on to Tufts University in Medford, Mass., where she earned a joint master's of science in environmental health engineering and planning and policy. She completed the degrees in 1981.

Massachusetts Government

In 1980, McCarthy returned to her hometown, Canton, to become its first full-time health agent. It was the beginning of a 25-year career in Massachusetts government during which she worked for five of the commonwealth's governors.

In 1984, she moved to the board of health in the neighboring town of Stoughton, Mass. She expanded her role to become the town's first environmental officer. In Stoughton, she took an active role in managing hazardous waste and protecting groundwater, and won the notice of then-Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis (D).

In 1985, the governor appointed McCarthy to the commonwealth's Hazardous Waste Facility Site Safety Council. In 1991, new Gov. William Weld (R) named McCarthy executive secretary of the council.

In 1994, she became executive director of the administrative council at the state's Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, which oversaw the hazardous waste council. In that role, she ran the nation's largest pollution prevention program, called the Massachusetts' Toxics Use Reduction Program.

In 1999, Gov. Paul Cellucci (R) appointed McCarthy assistant secretary of Pollution Prevention, Environmental Business and Technology.

McCarthy's role expanded again in 2003 when the next governor, Gov. Mitt Romney (R), named her under secretary for policy at the Executive Office for Environmental Affairs. McCarthy took charge of preserving the state's open spaces, farmlands and forests.

Romney also made McCarthy the chief of operations for his new Office of Commonwealth Development, which coordinated Massachusetts' environmental, transportation, energy and housing agencies. She was tasked with promoting smart growth and developing and implementing Massachusetts's first Climate Protection Action Plan, to combat the effects of global warming.

Connecticut Government

In December 2004, McCarthy left the Bay State for Connecticut when Gov. Jodi Rell (R) appointed her the administrator of that state's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). McCarthy made a name for herself by cleaning up the Long Island Sound and reducing air pollution. She also created a climate change action plan for Connecticut.

In January 2007, Rell nominated Mccarthy to another term, running through 2011.

In March 2009, President Obama nominated McCarthy to be assistant administrator for Air and Radiation at the Environmental Protection Agency.

She was confirmed in June 2009.

The Issues

During her long tenure as a state pollution-prevention expert, McCarthy has worked on everything from brownfields redevelopment to mercury reduction to environmental technology. She has made great strides in cleaning up Long Island Sound and in preventing air pollution.

"People who are environmentally-friendly are not competing with growth," she wrote in 2004. "I'm not a tree hugger, I'm a people hugger, concerned with people's need for clean air and water."

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EPA Confirmation Controversy

Though McCarthy has said she believes environmentally-friendly practices don't compete with business interests, that belief was challenged at her April 2, 2009, Senate confirmation hearing.

The hearing took place just before Lisa P. Jackson, in her first major move as EPA administrator, issued a finding that identified six greenhouse gases that contributed to climate change and declared them a threat to public health.

The finding was based on the 2007 Supreme Court case Massachusetts v. EPA, which ruled the EPA could regulate those six gases under the Clean Air Act. The George W. Bush administration had been criticized for not acting on the court's ruling earlier.

At the April 2, 2009, hearing, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) anticipated the finding, and warned that "special interest groups around the country are scheming to sue the EPA to prosecute hospitals, farms, nursing homes, commercial buildings and any other small emitter of greenhouse gases."

Barrasso confronted McCarthy about what he saw as an impending flood of litigation against small business. McCarthy said in such cases, she would "request that I be informed if any such notice is filed with regard to a small source, and I will follow-up with the potential litigants."

The answer didn't satisfy Barrasso.

In spite of the exchange, on April 23, 2009, the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee approved McCarthy's nomination to go to the full Senate. Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said, "I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this nomination."

But they didn't.

On April 30, 2009, Barrasso put a hold on McCarthy's nomination, saying, "The nominee has failed to address serious concerns regarding the implementation of the Clean Air Act with regards to EPA's recent endangerment finding."

On May 8, 2009, Barrasso wrote on the conservative Heritage Foundation's web site that the EPA's greenhouse gas finding was a "job-killing regulation."

"These regulations are a dangerous loose cannon in the wrong hands," he wrote.

In June 2009, Barrasso removed the hold, and the Senate confirmed McCarthy.

Climate Change

As head of Connecticut's DEP, McCarthy became well-known for fighting climate change. During her tenure, Connecticut became one of the first ten states to participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the first mandatory, cap-and-trade-style program aimed at reducing carbon emissions in the U.S.

"Our involvement in RGGI also serves as a building block in efforts underway to reduce Connecticut's carbon emissions," McCarthy said in July 2008, just before the first auction of carbon credits.

In addition to fighting for stricter protections of the state's air quality, McCarthy also worked to eliminate pollution in Long Island Sound.

The Network

McCarthy worked in the administration of then-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R).

A Massachusetts native, McCarthy had the support of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who testified on her behalf at her 2009 Senate confirmation hearing.

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Campaign Contributions

McCarthy contributed $1,000 to Barack Obama's presidential campaign in summer 2008.

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