EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy Testifies Before Committee
(Washington, DC) – Today, the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology held a hearing entitled, “Strengthening Transparency and Accountability within the Environmental Protection Agency.” Testifying before the Committee was the Honorable Gina McCarthy, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The stated purpose of the hearing was to review science and technology activities at the Environmental Protection Agency. Administrator McCarthy testified for over two and half hours on a number of issues, and she provided comprehensive answers and addressed misconceptions on a wide range of topics.
Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) said in her opening statement, “[T]he mission of the EPA is to “protect human health and the environment.” As someone who worked in public health before I entered politics, I can think of no mission of the federal government that is more important or noble than that. As a Member of Congress I think I should be doing all that I can to encourage EPA as it attempts to carry out a very challenging mission. I think, too often EPA is made a target for funding cuts and its leadership subjected to harassment and denigration. Unfortunately, our own Committee has not been immune from employing such tactics.
She continued, “I am a Texan from birth to death, and I’m no stranger to the oil and gas industries and the economic benefits they can bring—or to the pollution and health and environmental impacts those industries can also bring. I know that EPA’s actions have consequences for companies that sometimes are negative. However, I also know that EPA’s actions have important consequences for the health of our constituents—especially those who are young, infirm, or elderly. And those consequences have been very positive indeed over the forty-odd years that EPA has been in existence. We all want a healthy economy, but we also want a healthy quality of life for our citizenry—and EPA’s efforts have played a critical role in achieving both those goals since its inception.”
Administrator McCarthy said of the role that science plays at EPA, “Science is and has always been the backbone of EPA’s decision-making…Our work is based on the principles of scientific integrity and transparency that are both expected and deserved by the American people. I am proud of the EPA’s research efforts and the sound use of science and technology to fulfill the EPA’s mission to protect human health and safeguard the natural environment.”
Democrats on the Committee covered a wide-range of issues including EPA’s scientific review process; the positive economic impacts of the Clean Air Act; greenhouse gas emissions; a number of issues related climate change such as disaster mitigation; the Science Advisory Board and how to avoid conflicts of interest; the administrative burden of responding to all of the requests from Congress; and how the EPA has fully complied with the Committee’s subpoena request. With respect to the last topic, Administrator McCarthy testified that “we believe we have fully complied with the subpoena.”
Ranking Member Johnson said to Administrator McCarthy, “I know you have a very tough job, and I want to commend you for your willingness to take it on in spite of all the hurdles that you and your agency face…I look forward to working with you to help EPA achieve the goals that the nation has asked us to carry out.”
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