New EPA Administrator talks about curbing global warming in first speech

The new head of the Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday that the EPA plans to curb global warming while also fueling the economy.

“We need to cut carbon pollution to grow jobs,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “We need to cut carbon pollution to strengthen the economy.”

In her first speech as administrator, McCarthy told a 310 person audience at Harvard Law School that it’s time to stop talking about environmental regulations killing jobs, but rather embrace cutting-edge technology as a way to spark business innovation.

“We need to bring new ideas to the table, new ways of planning together, new ways of bringing capital to the table and new ways at working at green infrastructure,” said McCarthy.

In a statement released Tuesday, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin said he agrees with McCarthy that clean energy spurs economic growth, but adds that the coal industry has already made great strides in this area.

“Clean coal technology already is being used and it’s having a direct impact on our environment and our economy. In the last ten years, U.S. coal emissions have been reduced by 50 percent and coal-fired electric plants are expected to spend at least $80 billion by 2015 on new technologies to further reduce emissions,” Manchin said in the statement. “These investments would have an even greater impact on our economy and environment if we had a partner instead of an adversary in the federal government.”

Manchin recommended that while the nation invests in renewable and biofuel technology, it should also invest in making our most abundant natural resources cleaner, such as coal.

During her speech, McCarthy took time to praise the EPA and the Obama Administration for the progress that has been made so far, but added that there is much more work to be done and many more challenges to overcome.

“It’s time for a transition at the EPA so that we can make sure that we are taking care of and addressing the challenges of today, which are increasingly more complicated than they have ever been before,” she said.

McCarthy claimed that by cracking down on global warming pollution, businesses could ultimately benefit.

“As more businesses think about the opportunity of climate change and see additional public and private investments being leveraged to support infrastructure, to support clean energy, that those investments would in turn leverage more,” she said.

But that won’t happen unless the public and the industries don’t step up to make a difference and work together, McCarthy stated. She assured the crowd that her agency will act and will work with others to encourage change.

“We will focus on innovation, we’ll focus on a path forward, we’ll focus on collaboration, we’ll respect what states have done and we will move forward together,” McCarthy said.

Some of West Virginia’s Democratic leaders are scheduled to meet with McCarthy on Thursday to discuss the impact of new EPA regulations on the coal industry in the Mountain State.