WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Tuesday voted to confirm Janet McCabe as deputy administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, who will play a key role in implementing the Biden administration’s plans to halve U.S. greenhouse gas emissions below 2005 levels over the next decade.
The Senate voted 52-42, mostly along party lines, to approve her nomination.
McCabe, an attorney and professor, was a top EPA air policy official in the Obama administration and served as an environmental regulator in Indiana. She was an architect of Obama’s Clean Power Plan, the country’s first regulations targeting carbon emissions from power plants.
She will support EPA Administrator Michael Regan as the agency seeks to propose new regulations to replace the Clean Power Plan, revise greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles, and tackle a host of other key pollutants with a focus on protecting low-income and minority communities that tend to suffer the biggest impact from air and water pollution.
“Her dedication and know-how will be invaluable in protecting clean air and clean water, addressing the climate crisis, and realizing environmental justice for the most vulnerable among us,” Democratic Senator Tom Carper, chair of the Senate environment committee, said in a statement.
McCabe won support from Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, but Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia voted against her.
(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
