Gina McCarthy reflects on her career in environmental protection and regulation, and discusses her contribution to the environmental policy of the Obama administration, in which she served as assistant administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for air and radiation from 2009 to 2013 and as EPA administrator from 2013 to 2017. McCarthy remembers the origins of her interests in publi c health and environmental protection, and recounts experiences from her career prior to the Obama presidency that informed her work at the EPA. She outlines the structure and organization of the EPA, and describes the agency's role in the federal establishment of environmental standards, the implementation of state-level rules, and the federal response to natural and industrial disasters. McCarthy speaks widely about notable issues and initiatives with which she was closely involved, and provides details about the tightening of corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards; efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation and energy sectors; the development and release of the administration's Climate Action Plan and Clean Power Plan; the proposed extension of the Keystone XL pipeline system; and the work of the Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice. McCarthy also remembers the process by which she became EPA administrator and conversations with Obama about his focus on taking action to avert the worst effects of climate change during his second presidential term. Also discussed are the political status of the EPA, the distribution of authority for environmental regulation and protection across the federal government, the administration's approach to hydraulic fracturing and domestic natural gas production, and the water crisis in Flint, Michigan
Presidents--United States; Public health--United States; Energy industries--Environmental aspects; Fossil fuels--Environmental aspects; Automobiles--Fuel consumption--United States; Greenhouse gas mitigation--United States; Climatic changes--United States; Climate change mitigation--United States; Environmental protection--United States; Environmental policy--United States; Hydraulic fracturing--United States; Water quality management--Michigan; Lead poisoning--Michigan; McCarthy, Gina; Obama, Barack; Clean Power Plan (U.S.); Keystone XL Project; United States. Environmental Protection Agency; United States. Federal Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2020
Physical Description
50 pages
Note (Biographical)
Gina McCarthy served in the Obama administration as assistant administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for air and radiation from 2009 to 2013, and as administrator of the EPA from 2013 to 2017. Before joining the Obama administratio n, McCarthy held a variety of civil service positions related to environmental protection in the Massachusetts state government, and immediately prior to her 2009 appointment to the EPA, she was commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. In the Biden administration, McCarthy served as the first White House National Climate Advisor
Note
Interviewed by Douglas Brinkley on December 12, 2020. This interview is part of the Columbia University: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Gina McCarthy, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2023