President Barack Obama has chosen the former commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Obama is making several personnel announcements on Monday, including nominating Gina McCarthy to run the EPA.
McCarthy joined the Obama administration in 2009 as Assistant Administrator for the Office Air and Radiation.
"Gina McCarthy is an environmental protector for all seasons,” U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal said in a statement. “Over the years we worked together in Connecticut, she was consistently tough, fair, and smart as an environmental law enforcer. She recognizes the need to sometimes strike a balance between environmental activism and economic growth – but that the two are more commonly mutually supportive. I'm proud and delighted that a former Connecticut colleague will assume this key environmental protection position. Achieving confirmation – which I will actively support – should be aided by her excellent service to two Republican governors, showing that environmental protection is truly bipartisan."