New Climate and Energy Leaders Selected for Nation.
By: Lauren Michele
Tags: Energy, Climate Change, Biden, Renewable Energy, Policy

Gina McCarthy, former EPA Secretary under Obama, expected to serve as White House adviser on climate change. Jennifer Granholm, former governor of Michigan, to lead the Department of Energy. EPA Secretary named.

This week President-elect Joe Biden made a few big decisions regarding who will be leading the nation in climate, energy, and transportation policy.

Biden is expected to pick Gina McCarthy, the former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Barack Obama and the architect of some of his most far-reaching regulations to limit greenhouse gas emissions, to serve as the White House Climate Coordinator. In her new role, she would be in charge of coordinating domestic climate change policies across the federal government. McCarthy is currently the president and chief executive officer of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

Jennifer Granholm, the former governor of Michigan and a longtime champion of renewable energy development, has been chosen to lead the Department of Energy. The agency is expected to play an enlarged role in the battle against climate change. The Biden administration is expected to restart the department’s energy efficiency standard shop, which ground to a halt under Trump, as well as reinvigorate the agency’s loan programs which hold billions of dollars in loan authority for clean energy projects.

President-elect Joe Biden will choose to nominate Michael S. Regan, who heads the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, as the next Environmental Protection Agency administrator, according to two individuals who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it has not yet been formally announced. While Mary Nichols was Biden’s top choice for Environmental Protection Agency Secretary, pushback from environmental justice groups led to her likely not being selected.

Pete Buttigieg named DOT Secretary, has new plans for the gas tax.

President-elect Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he has selected former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, to lead the U.S. Department of Transportation. Mr. Buttigieg is expected to play a prominent role in the incoming Biden administration’s push to rebuild the nation’s roads and bridges. Mr. Biden issued a statement that said he had chosen Mr. Buttigieg “because this position stands at the nexus of so many of the interlocking challenges and opportunities ahead of us. Jobs, infrastructure, equity, and climate all come together at the DOT.”

Mr. Buttigieg campaigned on an infrastructure plan that would cut 50% of the backlog of critical road repairs and repair 50% of structurally deficient bridges by 2030. Selected over former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to receive the nomination, he was one of the few 2020 presidential contenders to promote replacing the gas tax with a vehicle-miles-traveled alternative that would tax drivers based on their road mileage. Mr. Buttigieg has said that the gas tax is “not a viable long-term funding mechanism for our highways” and that he will require DOT to put forward a plan to implement a user fee-based system, rather than the gas tax, to fund the Highway Trust Fund.

Mr. Biden campaigned on a $2 trillion plan to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure, much of it related to transportation. His climate change and infrastructure agenda includes: