Michael Regan Nominated as EPA Head

by Jason R. Sakurai

Published: December 18th, 2020

Michael Regan, who heads the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, is President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee as the next Environmental Protection Agency administrator.

A central figure in Biden’s pledge to combat climate change, foster green energy, and fight environmental racism, Regan would oversee power plants, oil and gas facilities, and other pollutant centers. He would also police the automakers and set standards for fuel-efficiency. If his nomination is confirmed by the Senate, Regan would be the first African-American male to run the EPA.

Enforcement of environmental laws and the protection of those most vulnerable is a key part of the Biden agenda. Growing up in eastern North Carolina, Regan saw toxic pollution, agricultural waste, and environmental destruction being concentrated near communities of color and low-income communities.

Regan is credited with getting North Carolina and Duke Energy to settle a long-running dispute over cleaning up coal ash ponds, a source of toxic water and air contamination. At $4 billion to $8 billion, it is the most costly coal ash cleanup in the nation.

Under Regan, North Carolina ordered Chemours, a chemical company, to eliminate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), from seeping into the Cape Fear River. Used in cookware, stain repellent, and other products, the chemicals have been linked to low infant birth weights, immune system problems, thyroid hormone disruption, and cancer.

With a Democratic governor and Republican legislature, Regan has dealt with a divided state government, experience that could come in handy in Washington. Regan has been credited with restoring morale at the state agency, after the polarizing tenure of his predecessor, whom critics accused of favoring polluting industries.

If confirmed, he would inherit an agency embattled over how it should exercise its authority to clean up pollution and combat climate change. In nominating Regan, Biden passed over more experienced environmental regulators and experts, some of whom were supported by Democrats bent on unwinding the Trump administration’s rollbacks.

Before entering state government, Regan worked as southeast regional director for the Environmental Defense Fund from 2008 to 2016, where he focused on lessening the impacts of climate change in the region, improving air quality in polluted communities, and growing clean energy. Prior to that, he worked at the EPA on air quality and energy issues, serving as a national program manager responsible for designing initiatives aimed at reducing pollution and market-based solutions to improve energy efficiency, air quality, and climate-related challenges.

A native of Goldsboro, North Carolina, Regan studied earth and environmental science at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and later earned a master’s degree in public administration from George Washington University.

[Image: NC Dept. of Environmental Quality]

#ClimateChange #EnvironmentalProtectionAgency #EPA #GreenEnergy #JoeBiden #MichaelRegan

Jason R. Sakurai

With a father who owned a dealership, I literally grew up in the business. After college, I worked for GM, Nissan and Mazda, writing articles for automotive enthusiast magazines as a side gig. I discovered you could make a living selling ad space at Four Wheeler magazine, before I moved on to selling TV for the National Hot Rod Association. After that, I started Roadhouse, a marketing, advertising and PR firm dedicated to the automotive, outdoor/apparel, and entertainment industries. Through the years, I continued writing, shooting, and editing. It keep things interesting.

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7 of 61 comments

Jeff S on Dec 20, 2020

@SuperdessuckeI agree about sensible development especially converting land that was a former coal plant into a Target warehouse distribution center. Better to redevelop and offer jobs to those in a blighted area than to just leave the decay of a former coal plant without any new jobs. I live in a area that is on I-275 in Northern KY that includes Amazon, the Gap, Toyota, Fram, and many other warehouses that have brought extra tax revenue to my area that has resulted in the lowest property taxes in the Cincinnati area and accelerated growth. True there is a lot more truck traffic but the proximity to I-275 and the airport has caused an economic boom.

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- Superdessucke on Dec 20, 2020
  
  Seemed like a no-brainer to me. Obviously it didn't to the community activists, and they did their very best to kill it. Then, we'd have had a 0 job polluted eyesore for many more decades to come. And it isn't like this area isn't industrial already, you know? And hopefully soon, we'll have electric trucks, meaning pollution from the site will go down to near zero.
  
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Dan on Dec 20, 2020

Pretending that what capitalism does to poor people is because they're black and not because they're poor absolves our betters of any obligation whatsoever towards poor people that aren't black, assigns the blame for capitalism in action to poor white people, and disintegrates public support for addressing any of it. Bezos continues to Mars, Kamala continues to Washington, and Black Trans Lives continue to Matter to lawyers and stock traders in neighborhoods where the only poor people allowed are the gardeners.

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- See 3 previous
- Lou_BC on Dec 20, 2020
  
  Well said.
  
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- Inside Looking Out on Dec 20, 2020
  
  @Dan. Agree, we have to send capitalists to Mars and train rest of people to become gardeners.
  
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- Old_WRX on Dec 21, 2020
  
  Dan, "absolves our betters [sic] of any obligation whatsoever towards poor people that aren’t black" It doesn't absolve them of anything. But, since they think like criminals, all they care about is whether something gets them where they want to get and, conversely, whether something might hinder them in getting where they want to get. But, this categorically does not absolve them. Using the word "racism" in this context is pure propaganda.
  
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- INeon on Dec 22, 2020
  
  @Old_WRX wyppo. sheesh.
  
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Recent Comments

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