Mary Nichols May Be EPA’s Next Boss. Here’s Her Vision

October 15, 2020

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by Maxine Joselow (E&E News/Governors' Solar and Wind Energy Coalition) California Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols yesterday outlined her vision for EPA over the next four years. And it starts with science.

Nichols — who is widely viewed as a candidate for EPA administrator should Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden defeat President Trump — described her plans for the agency during a virtual event hosted by American University and the American Lung Association.

The first priority for the next EPA chief should be restoring respect for science, including the overwhelming body of research that shows human activity is causing climate change, she said.

“The first thing, I would say, that really has to be reversed is the rejection of science and scientists,” Nichols said.

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Nichols said the next EPA chief’s second priority should be restoring respect for bedrock environmental laws such as the Clean Air Act — noting that California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) has filed numerous lawsuits over the agency’s alleged misinterpretation of the law.

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In addition to Nichols, other people mentioned for the job include Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D), who ran for president with a heavy focus on climate change, and Heather McTeer Toney, a former EPA Region 4 administrator and former mayor of Greenville, Miss., who is now national field director for Moms Clean Air Force. READ MORE

Trump Nemesis Mary Nichols on Short List to Run Biden EPA (1) (BloombergLaw)

CARB’s Nichols Would Accept EPA Administrator Nomination Under Biden (Inside EPA)

KNOWING MARY NICHOLS: (Politico's Morning Energy)

Top Biden EPA candidate faces liberal backlash over California track record (Washington Examiner)

Schumer backs Mary Nichols to lead Biden EPA (E&E News)

EJ GROUPS LAUNCH PUSH AGAINST NICHOLS FOR EPA: (Politico's Morning Energy)

What the fight over EPA chief says about Democratic divisions: The ‘queen of green’ is facing opposition from some environmental justice activists, who are lobbying the Biden transition team to choose a candidate of color (Washington Post)

THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY: (Politico's Morning Energy)

Excerpt from Politico's Morning Energy: Nichols' ability to convince wary policymakers and industry executives that the environment and economy are not at odds lies at the heart of her success in forging a bipartisan consensus on climate change action in California. And it may be the reason that Nichols, who is termed out as chair of the state air pollution agency at the end of the year, tops the list of Biden's potential picks to head the EPA, although she's not a slam dunk for the job.

Under Biden, EPA will need to reverse the Trump administration's rollbacks of climate policies and go even farther. Getting businesses on board and convincing them that environmental progress doesn't come at the expense of economic gains — during a deep recession and pandemic-induced economic anxiety, no less — will be key.

Even if she doesn't wind up heading the EPA, whoever does is likely to use her playbook going forward as the incoming Biden administration races to make up time lost during the Trump years, Debra (Pro's Debra Kahn) reports. "The way I have operated and the way I've been successful is because I've been able to bring in the affected stakeholders and also maintain the momentum of the agencies themselves," Nichols said.

Related: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has told the the Biden transition team he supports nominating Nichols to lead EPA, a person with direct knowledge of the conversation tells Pro's Anthony Adragna. READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico's Morning Energy: THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY: Speculation that President-elect Joe Biden could pick Mary Nichols, a California environmental regulator, to head EPA has opened a schism in the green movement between her many supporters and a newly emboldened environmental justice faction that's accused Nichols of failing to help low-income areas and people of color, Pro's Zack Colman, Debra Kahn and Anthony Adragna report this morning.

After 13 years at the California Air Resources Board , Nichols has developed some of the nation's most aggressive pollution and climate rules. But amid the rising concerns about racial equity in the environmental movement — and allegations of racism at her agency — environmental justice advocates are aiming to push their issues to the forefront of the Biden team's selection process. And the episode may be a harbinger of battles to come within Democratic circles as the Biden team takes power and grapples with how to address climate change after years of federal inaction.

"People are speaking up. They're tired of the same-old, same-old," said Yvette Arellano, a Houston, Texas-based environmental justice organizer who has relayed her concerns about Nichols in meetings with green groups such as the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthworks and the Sierra Club's Texas chapter.

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It's not clear whether the complaints are hurting Nichols' chances for the job, the trio reports. But few environmental groups have been willing to publicly defend Nichols, and mainstream organizations like the League of Conservation Voters, Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club have declined to comment, showing a wariness of upsetting delicate new environmental partnerships.

Nichols still enjoys support among political heavyweights. On Wednesday, California House Democrats endorsed her for the EPA role and sought to counter the environmental justice advocates' complaints. "Ms. Nichols has worked tirelessly to ensure that communities disproportionately harmed by environmental racism are not left behind in California's environmental progress," they wrote.

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), who signed the letter, has been reaching out to groups concerned about Nichols' possible selection. He's urged people to consider her record in finding consensus with opponents while addressing the "most difficult issues imaginable in ways that no one had ever tried to do."

"I don't think anyone should be dismissive of that perspective or those [environmental justice] concerns — those are real things. But I think you have to also look at the totality of what Mary Nichols and her agency have done to try to reinvest cap and trade revenues in disadvantaged communities," he said. "The fact that we have a fighting chance of getting rid of these refineries and diesel emissions and other things that are inherent in a fossil fuel economy is because Mary Nichols has been fighting that bigger fight so well."

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TONEY PRAISES BIDEN ENVIRO JUSTICE WORK: Heather McTeer Toney, one of Biden's rumored candidates for EPA administrator, on Thursday gave a thumbs up to Biden's team discussing a holistic approach to environmental justice. "I've been really encouraged to hear the transition team and the Biden-Harris administration talk about having environmental justice run throughout every single agency," she said during a virtual event with Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.). "Not just putting the onus on one particular agency, but ensuring that everyone is talking together and really establishing this as a core value throughout the entire administration." Toney also recommended that on Day One, after Biden rejoins the Paris climate agreement, he then direct government attorneys to halt ongoing litigation over Trump rules so they can be reconsidered.

Fact check — true: "Nobody wants a polluted crabcake," Toney said while talking about Chesapeake Bay. READ MORE