Gina McCarthy rocks!

PennFuture is in the midst of encouraging -- well, pushing actually -- the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to adopt federal standards to limit industrial carbon pollution from coal-burning power plants. At long last!

Given Congress' refusal to #ActOnClimate, President Obama is using his executive authority to move our stubborn country along. Hence, the EPA's work to set limits on the amount of CO2 that existing and not-yet-built power plants can emit.

I was fortunate enough to be able to meet Gina McCarthy, the EPA Administrator on Tuesday, February 25, when I attended a White House briefing on the President's climate action plan. The White House invited about 150 faith and community leaders from across the country to update us on what the Administration is doing on climate, and to learn from us what's happening in local communities across the country.

Gina McCarthy has been a clean-air hero of mine for a decade now. She first caught PennFuture's eye when we were working to pass Pennsylvania's Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard back in 2004. Gina was Connecticut's Commissioner of Environmental Protection then, leading in states' efforts to move away from filthy fossil fuels used for electricity production, and moving towards wind, solar, and energy efficiency.

We've been following her career ever since, and so were delighted when she was confirmed as EPA Administrator last year.

Administrator McCarthy talked to the group of us gathered for the briefing this week with passionate, smart, and inspired thinking. She stressed what clear-thinking people already know: "Whatever we do that's good for addressing climate change is also good for our economy." (Hmm. Where have I heard something very similar before? "Every environmental victory grows the economy."). She pointed out that unchecked climate change is not just a threat to public health and the planet, but a threat to the economy as well, adding that  the new rules "will put money in your pocket, grow jobs, and move people from poverty into the middle class." Sounds like a plan to me!

Gina's mantra for energy efficiency? "Go forth and save money!"

During Q&A, one committed activist asked why the rule on existing power plants (due to be formally released for public comment later this year) wouldn't set the tolerable amount of CO2 emissions from power plant at zero -- the ideal situation. Gina answered thoughtfully: "I have read carefully the legislation [Clean Air Act] that governs what my agency can do, and I am being very careful that we're within the law, so that we can't be accused of that 'overreach' thing that could ruin our efforts." And then, with that wonderful McCarthy wit, she added that she couldn't do simply whatever she wanted to do, since "nobody had died and made her queen," as much as she might enjoy being queen.

I had the opportunity to meet Ms. McCarthy before the briefing, and handed her a pile of comment cards from Pennsylvanians in support of the proposed rules to limit carbon emissions.

Those 100+ cards represent thousands of comments already sent to the EPA from Pennsylvanians supporting the rules.

If it's not yet May 9, 2014 when you're reading this, then it's not too late for you, too, to weigh in  and tell the EPA to require any new plants that will come online to be on a tight carbon budget. Please -- it really matters. And we know that Gina is listening.

Joy Bergey is PennFuture's federal policy director and is based in Philadelphia.

Gina McCarthy: the path to EPA confirmation becomes clearer

As most people know by now, Gina McCarthy would be fabulous as head of the EPA. It's been months since President Obama nominated her to run the agency yet she's unfortunately hit numerous, and pointless, brick walls in the Senate on her road to confirmation. In May, congressional conservatives boycotted her vote in committee in order to impress, um, er, um...the Tea Party?? Cooler heads prevailed and she won committee endorsement.

Since then, Gina has been awaiting a full vote in the Senate. Why the wait? Conservatives again have been making mischief, threatening to filibuster the vote. Nobody doubts that McCarthy is qualified. Even that climate denier extraordinaire Sen. Jim Inhofe (Republican from Oklahoma) said in March that he expected to be friends with McCarthy as head of EPA.

But hold the presses! We just learned that Senator David Vitter (Republican from Louisiana) has announced there will be no filibuster on Gina. Glory Hallelujah!

Why this change of heart? Are certain members of Congress realizing that the Tea Party is becoming increasingly irrelevant in American politics? Have those members of Congress decided to study the actual science of climate change and, thus, now realize how incredibly serious the situation is?

Or perhaps it was Sen. Majority leader Harry Reid's talk of imposing the "nuclear option" and ending filibusters on Presidential nominees that made them see sense.

Whatever the reason, we'll take it. The word is that Gina's floor vote in the Senate could come as early as the week of July 15. We hope beyond words that she gets confirmed.

Can't wait to see Gina get to work as EPA administrator.  We need her. Now.

We want Gina! We want Gina! And we want her now!

Gina McCarthy has been nominated by President Obama to serve as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). McCarthy would make an excellent administrator for oh so many reasons, but she hasn't yet been confirmed. What's going on?

McCarthy certainly has the street cred for the role. Since 2009 she has served as assistant administrator of EPA's Office of Air and Radiation. (We like to think of her as our favorite air head.)

In more than 25 years in state and federal government, she has earned the trust of environmentalists and business leaders for being fair and competent. Before going federal four years ago, Gina was climate and energy advisor to Gov. Romney in Massachusetts (yes, that Romney).

McCarthy came to PennFuture's attention in 2004 as we worked to get Pennsylvania's Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard, which requires increasing amounts of clean electricity to be produced in Pennsylvania — translating to a smaller carbon footprint, passed. At that time, McCarthy was Connecticut's secretary of environmental protection, working for Republican Gov. Jodi Rell. We could see then that McCarthy knew how to get good stuff done, no matter which party she was working with.

So why hasn't McCarthy been confirmed? Partisan politics as usual, we fear. Her hearing process in the Senate Environment and Public Works committee was made a sham by the Republicans. They required her to answer, in writing, more than 1,100 questions — ridiculous by any standard. And then they chose to boycott her first committee vote on May 9. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and the R's showed up on May 16 for the next vote. McCarthy won committee endorsement along straight party lines.

But still she needs to be confirmed by the full Senate. What's the hold up? Apparently Harry Reid isn't sure she can get the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. Sen. Bob Casey has indicated he'll vote for her. Senator Toomey? Not so much. Why doesn't Pat Toomey care about clean air? What exactly could be more important than our children's health? Hrmph.

Come on, Senate. It's time to confirm Gina McCarthy to head the EPA. The country badly needs her.

Say it ain't so: 400

Other news
The atmosphere's CO2 levels briefly topped 400 parts per million (ppm) --another ominous milestone in the climate crisis -- at an observatory in Hawaii this week. But, alas, that doesn't stop a vocal minority of deniers who've come up with a long list of talking points.

Copernicus also had skeptics -- who persisted for decades after his death --who didn't believe his argument that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the universe. (In 2013, Copernicus' birthday was celebrated with a Google doodle).

But the climate crisis is even more urgent than the 16th century debate over the sun. It's one of the reasons PennFuture has been working on climate change since we were founded -- and recently concluded 100 Days of Action for Climate in Pennsylvania. We're also continuing the fight to confirm Gina McCarthy as EPA administrator: Learn more at www.standwithgina.com.

"It's a natural cycle," "there's no scientific consensus," and "it's a conspiracy" are a few common arguments heavily used by organizations with a stake in dirty fossil fuels.  So we know you'll find good use for these 99 climate-denier rebuttals -- whether you submit a comment to your morning newspaper or drop a line at your next neighborhood cookout.  From Think Progress

Some good news
How many ways can you say it? Environment + economy are not mutually exclusive (it's right in our PennFuture mission). A new report by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) makes clear: over the last decade, EPA regulations imposed about $45 billion in costs, but created $640 billion in benefits. From Triple Pundit

Fun stuff
What would Jules Verne think? A plane has begun a historic around-the-world trip one section at a time. Why is this news? The plane -- Solar Impulse -- is a prototype that flies on solar cells and lithium batteries. From Treehugger

To do
Join PennFuture in Pittsburgh for NWF's Google hangout with renowned climate guru and scientist Dr. Michael Mann. We'll have pizza and snacks as we discuss climate science followed by a Q&A session with Dr. Mann. What's a Google hangout, you ask? It's a virtual meeting -- You can participate right in our Pittsburgh office on Monday, May 13, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Not in Pittsburgh? You can still participate online from your computer or smartphone.