{"id":24660,"date":"2021-02-03T11:45:55","date_gmt":"2021-02-03T11:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grist.org\/?p=498162"},"modified":"2021-02-03T11:45:55","modified_gmt":"2021-02-03T11:45:55","slug":"in-north-carolina-epa-nominee-michael-regan-opened-his-door-to-activists-and-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/02\/03\/in-north-carolina-epa-nominee-michael-regan-opened-his-door-to-activists-and-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"In North Carolina, EPA nominee Michael Regan opened his door to activists \u2014 and industry"},"content":{"rendered":"
Joe Biden has said that he wants to put America \u201cback in the business of leading the world on climate change.\u201d On the campaign trail last year, he touted a $2 trillion clean energy recovery plan, and during his first days in office he debuted a slew of environmental executive actions<\/a>. Biden has also indicated that he believes \u201cleading the world on climate change\u201d involves centering environmental justice \u2014 the disproportionate burden that pollution and climate change present to low-income communities and people of color.<\/p>\n Many of the administration\u2019s environmental justice efforts will likely pass through Michael Regan, Biden\u2019s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA. Regan, who is currently secretary of North Carolina\u2019s Department of Environmental Quality, or DEQ, will face questions before the Senate on Wednesday, in advance of his confirmation vote.<\/p>\n Regan, who is also a former EPA official for the Clinton and Bush administrations, is poised to become the first Black man to run the EPA. He\u2019ll have his work cut out for him, inheriting an agency whose authority has been diminished by the Trump administration\u2019s relentless regulatory rollbacks<\/a> and an exodus of career staffers due to a decline in agency morale<\/a>.<\/p>\n Regan outlasted Mary Nichols, the previous frontrunner to lead Biden’s EPA<\/a>, primarily because he received more support from progressive leaders<\/a> and environmental justice advocates<\/a>. This support rested largely on Regan\u2019s record at North Carolina\u2019s DEQ, where he created the state\u2019s first Environmental Justice and Equity Board, a community advisory body intended to give underrepresented state residents a voice in environmental law enforcement.<\/p>\n Advocates who worked with Regan around that effort told Grist that he changed the state\u2019s culture around environmental justice by opening his doors to ordinary North Carolinians, regularly holding conversations with residents of communities near toxic sites, and prioritizing economic and environmental rejuvenation for areas facing high levels of pollution. For some advocates, however, Regan\u2019s positive work was sometimes overshadowed by his apparent deference to high-polluting industries that North Carolina political leaders saw as key pillars of the state\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n