President Joe Biden has promised to put the U.S. on a path to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 that also turns around decades of environmental injustice, in which poorer and non-White communities have carried a heavier burden from pollution. Meeting both goals will go through Michael Regan, the new leader of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Before he even begins pursuing what he terms an “aggressive climate agenda,” Regan faces the daunting task of rebuilding an agency left in disarray by the previous administration. The EPA spent the past four years demoralized and belittled, with an exodus among rank-and-file staff. That means hiring hundreds of scientists just ...