President Barack Obama calls his new nominees for EPA administrator and Energy secretary a “great team” but some in West Virginia aren’t so sure.
The President announced Monday his selection of Gina McCarthy to head the EPA and Ernest Moniz to lead the energy department.
“They’re going to be making sure that we’re investing in American energy, that we’re doing everything that we can to combat the threat of climate change, that we’re going to be creating jobs and economic opportunity in the first place,” President Obama said.
McCarthy has been assistant administrator of air quality at EPA. She would replace Obama’s first term EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.
West Virginia Second District Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito said in a prepared statement that she’s disappointed, but not surprised with the President’s choice. Saying Obama has decided “to double down on his job killing policies by nominating Gina McCarthy as EPA Administrator. Ms. McCarthy was the force behind many of the anti-coal regulations issued by this administration, including the CSAPR rule that was struck down as unlawful by a federal appeals court,” Capito said.
West Virginia Coal Association President Bill Raney was also less than optimistic when contacted by MetroNews Monday.
“We’re hoping against hope that there’s a difference there but at the same time we don’t anticipate any great change,” he said.
President Obama said there is nobody “who can do a better job of filling Lisa’s shoes permanently than my nominee who is standing beside me here Gina McCarthy.”
EPA Administrator Jackson went back and forth with West Virginia and its coal supporters during the past four years.
Rep. Capito said President Obama has missed an opportunity to chart a new course “that balances environmental regulations with the need for jobs in our local communities.”