WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), the top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, today voted against North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Michael Regan, the nominee for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator, during today’s committee meeting.

“While I appreciate his willingness to visit West Virginia and assurances for transparency, Secretary Regan has not committed to a different policy course than Gina McCarthy took during the Obama administration,” Senator Capito said. “Let me be clear: my decision today is not a personal one. Mr. Regan is a professional and affable gentleman. However, I remain deeply concerned about unaccountable climate czars in the White House and their control over EPA and environmental policy. Secretary Regan did not rule out a return to the Clean Power Plan. He would not say whether EPA would again claim overreaching authority to force states to shift electricity generation sources. He could not rule out a return to the Obama administration’s 2015 WOTUS rule or something similar. Without clear commitments to oppose policies that would economically devastate West Virginia again, I cannot support him.”

 

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