Feb. 3 (UPI) -- Michael Regan, President Joe Biden's selection to head the Environmental Protection Agency, pledged Wednesday to place a focus on environmental justice if confirmed.
During his confirmation hearing before the Senate environment and public works committee, Regan said that limiting the impact of pollution and other environmental hazards on communities of color and lower-income communities, combatting the effects of climate change, and implementing environmental regulation in a way that promotes economic growth are key goals of the EPA.
"We all have a stake in the health of our environment, the strength of our economy, the well-being of our communities and the legacy we will leave the next generation in the form of our nation's natural resources," he said.
As North Carolina's secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality, Regan, 44, created an Environmental Justice and Equity Board.
Regan would be the first Black man to lead the EPA, and on Wednesday said he would establish an environmental justice and equity advisor, who would work with the agency's civil rights office to assign staff at regional offices to focus on issues of environmental justice.
"As the government, we think we know, until we start to hear directly from the community," he said.
While saying he would "move with a sense of urgency" to combat climate change, Regan said he would seek compromise and not put the country in a position to "simply regulate ourselves out of every problem we face."
"I've learned that if you want to address complex challenges, you must first be able to see them from all sides, and you must be willing to put yourself in other people's shoes," he said.
Facing questions from Republicans about plans to regulate fracking and limit emissions from the nation's automotive and fossil fuels industry, Regan said he and the Biden administration would work to guide the nation toward a more green economy.
"We all understand the anxiety and the fear as we make this transition that folks in your states have," he said. "What I know is we've been instructed that we are not to leave any community behind. In order for us to be successful, every state and every community has to see itself in our vision."
Meet President Joe Biden's top adviser picks
Xavier Becerra
Secretary of Health and Human Services. Becerra, California's attorney general, testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., on February 23. Pool Photo by Sarah Silbiger/UPI |
License Photo
Rep. Deb Haaland
Secretary of Interior. Haaland, D-N.M., speaks during a Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources hearing on her nomination on February 23. She is the first Native American to ever be nominated to serve in the Cabinet. Pool Photo by Graeme Jennings/UPI |
License Photo
Adewale Adeyemo
Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. Economist Adewale Adeyemo testifies before the Senate Finance Committee during his confirmation hearing on February 23. He served as deputy national security adviser in the Obama administration. Pool Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/UPI |
License Photo
Willliam Burns
CIA Director. William Burns has served in the U.S. State Department through
five presidential administrations, including as U.S. ambassador to Jordan under former President Bill Clinton and ambassador to Russia under former President George W. Bush. Pool Photo by Tom Brenner/UPI |
License Photo
Marty Walsh
Labor Secretary. Former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is a pro-union politician who previously served as the head of the Boston Trades Council. Pool Photo by Graeme Jennings/UPI |
License Photo
Katherine Tai
U.S. Trade Representative. The attorney currently serves as chief trade counsel for the House ways and means committee. Pool Photo by Tasos Katopodis/UPI |
License Photo
Michael Regan
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator. Regan, who has served as secretary of North Carolina's Department of Environmental Quality, he would become the first Black person to hold this position during the EPA's existence. He said he would focus on
environmental justice in the role. Pool Photo by Brandon Bell/UPI |
License Photo
Miguel Cardona
Education Secretary. Cardona, Connecticut's commissioner of education, speaks during his confirmation hearing to be secretary of education, the first Latinx person to hold the position. He began his career as an elementary school teacher. Pool Photo by Anna Moneymaker/UPI |
License Photo
Isabella Casillas Guzman
Small Business Administration. Guzman previously served as director of California's Office of the Small Business Advocate. Pool Photo by Tasos Katopodis/UPI |
License Photo
Alejandro Mayorkas
Homeland Security Secretary. President Joe Biden (L) looks toward Mayorkas, the first Latinx person to hold the position, before signing executive orders advancing his priority to modernize the U.S. immigration system. Pool Photo by Doug Mills/UPI |
License Photo
Neera Tanden
Office of Management and Budget Director. Tanden testifies before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee on her nomination. She formerly served as
president of the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Tanden will be responsible for presenting the president's budget to Congress. Photo by Leigh Vogel/UPI |
License Photo
Jake Sullivan
National Security Adviser. Sullivan served as deputy chief of staff to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/UPI |
License Photo
Antony Blinken
Secretary of State. Blinken speaks during his confirmation hearing. He previously served as Biden's national security adviser during the Obama administration. Pool Photo by Graeme Jennings/UPI |
License Photo
Linda Thomas-Greenfield
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Thomas-Greenfield served as assistant secretary of state for African affairs, director-general of the U.S. Foreign Service and U.S. ambassador to Liberia in the Obama administration. Photo by Michael Reynolds/UPI |
License Photo
Janet Yellen
Treasury Secretary. The former Federal Reserve chairwoman, seen here receiving the Paul H. Douglas Award for Ethics in Government in 2017, is the
first woman to head the treasury. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI |
License Photo
John Kerry
Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Change. The former secretary of state has helped spearhead programming on climate change and oceans for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Photo by Stefani Reynolds/UPI |
License Photo
Denis McDonough
Veterans Affairs Secretary. McDonough served as White House chief of staff during President Barack Obama's second term. He has also worked as deputy national security adviser and chief of staff of the National Security Council. Photo by Leigh Vogel/UPI |
License Photo
Brian Deese
National Economic Council Director. Deese
served as deputy director on the council and the Office of Management and Budget for the Obama administration. Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI |
License Photo
Susan Rice
Domestic Policy Adviser. Rice, who previously served as national security adviser and ambassador to the United Nations in the Obama administration, speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., on January 26, 2020. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI |
License Photo
Gen. Lloyd James Austin III
Secretary of Defense. Austin, a former U.S. commander in Iraq, is the first Black leader of the Pentagon. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI |
License Photo
Jennifer Granholm
Energy Secretary. The former two-term governor of Michigan, advocated for clean energy in her state and helped the Obama administration build the multibillion-dollar bailout of Detroit's' auto manufacturers and pushed for them to invest in electric vehicles. Photo by Jim Watson/UPI |
License Photo
Peter Buttigieg
Transportation Secretary. The former mayor of South Bend, Ind., Buttigieg would be the first openly gay person in Biden's Cabinet
if confirmed by the Senate. Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI |
License Photo
Avril Haines
Director of National Intelligence. Haines served as deputy national security adviser for counterterrorism and deputy CIA director in the Obama administration. Pool Photo by Joe Raedle/UPI |
License Photo
Dr. Anthony Fauci
Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Fauci will remain in his current role that he has held in the Trump administration. Photo by Al Drago/UPI |
License Photo
Jen Psaki
Press Secretary. Psaki has previously served as spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of State and held various communications roles in the Obama administration. In her new role, she has vowed to bring
"truth and transparency" back to the briefing room. Photo by Al Drago/UPI |
License Photo
Gina Raimondo
Commerce Secretary. Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo was also considered as a potential running mate for Biden, as well as a choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI |
License Photo
Samantha Power
USAID Chief. Samantha Power (R), who served as President Barack Obama's U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, is nominated to head of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Pool Photo by Anthony Behar/UPI |
License Photo
Merrick Garland
Attorney General. Judge Merrick Garland (L) of the U.S. Court of Appeals was nominated by President Barack Obama to the Supreme Court in 2016 but the Senate refused to hold a confirmation hearing for him. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI |
License Photo
Marcia Fudge
Housing and Urban Development Secretary. The Ohio representative would be the first Black woman to lead the department in decades, if confirmed. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI |
License Photo
Tom Vilsack
Agriculture Secretary. Vilsack also served in this post from 2009 to 2017. He is a former governor of Iowa. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI |
License Photo
Xavier Becerra
Health and Human Services Secretary. The California attorney general, shown here speaking at the Democratic National Convention in 2016, is the first Latino to be
appointed to head HHS. Photo by Ray Stubblebine/UPI |
License Photo
Dr. Vivek Murthy
Surgeon General. Murthy will return to his role as surgeon general, a job he held during the Obama administration. Photo courtesy of U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions/Wikimedia Commons
Ron Klain
Chief of Staff. The former White House ebola response coordinator has been an adviser to Biden
for decades. Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI |
License Photo
Cedric Richmond
Office of Public Engagement Director. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., is former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. Pool Photo by Patrick Semansky/UPI |
License Photo