The United States Senate on Wednesday confirmed Michael Regan as the new administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with the mission of enforcing the policies against the climate crisis of President Joe Biden.
Regan was confirmed with 66 votes in favor and 34 against for his new position, which has ministerial rank.
One of Regan’s first jobs will be rebuilding an agency dwarfed during the Donald Trump administration, which was dedicated to eliminating climate rules and regulations.
Regan, a 44-year-old African American, began his professional career as an official at the EPA, before being appointed North Carolina Secretary of Environmental Quality in 2017.
In addition to rebuilding the agency, Regan’s main mission will be to implement Biden’s environmental policies, whose goals include eliminating fossil fuels from the power grid by 2035 or reducing vehicle emissions.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who voted against Regan’s confirmation, called this Biden program “a war of the far left against American energy.”
The Senate’s confirmation was greeted with welcome from environmental organizations, including the Hispanic group Poder Latinx and the “Confirm Climate” campaign, sponsored by the largest environmental groups in the United States to support Regan’s appointment.
In a statement, “Confirm Climate” expressed its desire that Regan return science to a central place in the decisions made at the environment agency, in contrast to the approach taken by the Trump administration.