The Future of the EPA and Clean Power

These are challenging times at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  In February of this year former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, who had sued the EPA more than a dozen times to block environmental and health protections, became the agency’s Administrator.  In the months since, he has called for cuts to EPA programs, sought to repeal the Clean Power Plan, and debunk science on climate change. 

How far will EPA leadership may go in rolling back climate protections?  And, more fundamentally, can the EPA operate as an objective steward of the environment and public health in an era when politics, rather than science, increasingly appear to set its agenda?

In this episode of Energy Policy Now, the Honorable Gina McCarthy, Administrator of the EPA during President Barack Obama’s second term, weighs in on the EPA’s current policy direction, the Trump administration’s attack on climate science, and the practical impact of a Clean Power Plan rollback on carbon reduction.

guest

Gina McCarthy

Former Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency

Gina McCarthy is the former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. She is the recipient of the 2017 Carnot Prize for distinguished contributions to energy policy.

host

Andy Stone

Energy Policy Now Host and Producer

Andy Stone is producer and host of Energy Policy Now, the Kleinman Center’s podcast series. He previously worked in business planning with PJM Interconnection and was a senior energy reporter at Forbes Magazine.