President-elect Joe Biden announced a racially diverse slate of environmental advisers on Saturday to help his government face what he called “the existential threat of our time, climate change.”
Biden praised his selection of Deb Haaland as the inland’s first Native American secretary, who influenced the country’s tribes for generations.
Michael Regan, the North Carolina official, is said to be the first African-American man to head the Environmental Protection Agency. He has been the head of state on the environment since 2017 and has made a name for himself cleaning up industrial toxins and helping low-income and minority communities significantly affected by pollution.
“There are already more people of color in our closet than ever in a closet,” said Biden. Six members of his proposed cabinet are African American.
His commitment to a variety of choices, including a record number of women, he said, “opens doors and spans the full range of talent we have in this country.”
“We literally have no time to waste,” Biden told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware, referring to uncontrolled wildfires that have ravaged the western states, tropical storms that “ravaged” the south, and record floods and droughts affecting the agricultural midwest.
“Folks, we’re in crisis,” said Biden. “Just as we need a unified national response to Covid-19, we need a unified national response to climate change. We must meet the moment with the urgency it demands, as we would during any national emergency. “
Haaland, who struggled with homelessness and at one point relied on food stamps, said her life was not easy. “This moment is profound when we consider that a former Home Secretary once proclaimed his goal, to quote us, ‘civilize or exterminate’,” said Haaland, referring to Alexander HH Stuart, who said so in 1851. “I am living proof of the failure of that gruesome ideology.”
Biden’s approach is a shift from that of Donald Trump, whose presidency has been marked by efforts to boost oil and gas production while scaling back government measures to protect the environment. The Trump administration is trying to launch as many initiatives as possible before Biden takes power.
Biden, who has said he will push for US return to the Paris climate deal, from which Trump withdrew, will therefore seek to undo or block as much of Trump’s work as possible. There will also be an emphasis on looking for low-income, working-class and minority communities hardest hit by fossil fuel pollution and climate change.
Biden called his team “brilliant, qualified, tested and barrier-free”.
Former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm is on the verge of energy secretary. Biden’s nominee to lead the Council on Environmental Quality is Brenda Mallory. The CEQ oversees environmental studies for virtually all major infrastructure projects and advises the president on important environmental issues. If confirmed, Mallory would be the first African American to hold the position since it was founded more than 50 years ago.
Two members of the team do not need confirmation from the Senate. They are Gina McCarthy, as the national climate advisor, and Ali Zaidi, her deputy. McCarthy served as EPA Administrator from 2013 to 2017, during Barack Obama’s second term.
Biden has pledged to make tackling the climate crisis one of the pillars of his government. But with a narrow majority in the House of Representatives and Senate scrutiny undecided, he and his team may have to turn away from Congress and instead rely on rules from regulatory agencies to make sweeping changes.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report