Gina McCarthy Bio
Regina “Gina” McCarthy (born May 3, 1954) is an American air quality expert, environmental policy expert, and government official. She served as the thirteenth Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from 2013 to 2017 under President Barack Obama, and later became the first White House National Climate Advisor from 2021 to 2022 under President Joe Biden. McCarthy is widely recognized for her work on air quality, climate policy, and public health, and for shaping major environmental regulations in the United States.
A Massachusetts native, McCarthy built a career that spanned state government, federal agencies, the private sector, and nonprofit leadership. Before leading the EPA, she served as commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. After leaving federal service, she led the Natural Resources Defense Council as president and CEO before rejoining government under President Biden. She is a member of the Democratic Party and holds degrees from the University of Massachusetts Boston and Tufts University.
Early Life and Background
Gina McCarthy was born on May 3, 1954, in Brighton, a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. She was raised in Dorchester and Canton, Massachusetts, in a working-class family with Irish ancestry. These early surroundings in and around Boston shaped her lifelong interest in public health, urban environments, and the quality of the air and water that communities depend on.
McCarthy graduated from the University of Massachusetts Boston in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Anthropology. She later attended Tufts University, where she received a Master of Science combining Environmental Health Engineering with Planning and Policy in 1981. Her graduate training gave her the technical background and policy perspective that would later define her career in environmental protection.
Coming from a working-class background, McCarthy brought a grounded, practical outlook to her work. Her academic focus on the connection between human communities and the environment helped set the stage for a career spent at the intersection of science, public policy, and government service.
Path to Environmental Policy
McCarthy began her career in 1980 as the health agent for the city of Canton. In 1985, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis appointed her to a state hazardous waste safety council, giving her early experience working on environmental hazards at the state level. She went on to hold several top positions in the Massachusetts state government, including undersecretary for policy for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs from 1999 to 2003 and Deputy Secretary of the Massachusetts Office of Commonwealth Development from 2003 to 2004.
During this period, McCarthy served as an environmental adviser to five Massachusetts governors, including former governor Mitt Romney. On November 10, 2004, Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell appointed McCarthy as commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. In that role, she developed and implemented the first regional policy to trade carbon credits to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, an early and influential step in market-based climate policy.
McCarthy stepped down as Connecticut’s environmental commissioner in 2009 to join the Obama administration. On March 16, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated her to serve as Assistant Administrator for the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. The Senate confirmed her on June 2, 2009, and she served in that role until her nomination as EPA administrator in 2013.
Gina McCarthy Career
Early Career (1980–2009)
McCarthy’s early career was rooted in Massachusetts state government and local public health. Starting in 1980 as Canton’s health agent, she spent more than two decades moving through increasingly senior environmental roles in state government. Her work focused on hazardous waste, air quality, transportation, energy, and the connection between economic growth and environmental protection.
Her appointment as Connecticut’s environmental commissioner in 2004 marked a major step forward. In that role, she built the first regional cap-and-trade program for power plant emissions, an approach that helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions and laid the groundwork for federal climate policies that followed.
EPA Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation (2009–2013)
After joining the EPA in 2009, McCarthy took charge of the agency’s Office of Air and Radiation, which oversees national air quality standards and programs. She worked on rules affecting power plants, vehicles, and industrial sources of pollution, helping to shape the agency’s approach to climate and air toxics during the first Obama term.
Her time in this role established her as a tough, experienced regulator. President Barack Obama nominated her on March 4, 2013, to become the thirteenth Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, succeeding Lisa Jackson.
EPA Administrator (2013–2017)
Confirmation hearings began on April 11, 2013. The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works approved McCarthy’s nomination in a party-line vote on May 16, 2013. Her nomination was stalled on the Senate floor for a month, with Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming among those delaying a final vote. On July 18, 2013, the Senate confirmed her by a vote of 59–40, largely along party lines, after a record 136-day confirmation process.
As EPA administrator, McCarthy finalized the Clean Power Plan on June 25, 2015, under the Clean Air Act, seeking to reduce coal use and align U.S. policy with the Paris Agreement. The Supreme Court later issued a 5–4 stay of the rule, the first time the Court had halted a regulation before lower court review. On May 27, 2015, she also finalized a rule under the Clean Air Act defining “waters of the United States,” which became the subject of legal challenges and a Congressional Review Act veto by President Obama.
In 2016, McCarthy testified before the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform about the Flint water crisis, alongside Michigan Governor Rick Snyder. In October 2016, the EPA’s inspector general concluded that the agency had wrongfully delayed issuing an emergency order regarding Flint. McCarthy left office at the end of the Obama administration in 2017.
Private Sector and Advocacy (2017–2020)
After leaving the EPA, McCarthy joined Pegasus Capital Advisors as an operating advisor focused on sustainability and wellness investments. In late May 2018, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health announced the formation of the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment, with McCarthy as its director. She was later named chair of its board of advisors in January 2020 and was appointed Professor of Public Health Practice at the school in November 2017.
McCarthy also served as a Richard L. and Ronay A. Menschel Senior Leadership Fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, teaching a course on environmental leadership. In November 2019, she was named president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council, effective in early 2020.
White House National Climate Advisor (2021–2022)
On December 18, 2020, President-elect Joe Biden announced that he would appoint McCarthy as the first White House National Climate Advisor, leading the newly created White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy. She joined the Biden administration on January 20, 2021, advising the President on domestic climate change policy and coordinating climate efforts across the federal government.
McCarthy stepped down from the role on September 16, 2022, and was succeeded by Ali Zaidi. During her tenure, she pushed for stronger climate action across federal agencies and urged technology companies to help limit the spread of climate-related misinformation.
Notable Events and Milestones
McCarthy’s career includes a series of high-profile moments, including her record 136-day confirmation as EPA administrator, the release of the Clean Power Plan, the first-ever Supreme Court stay of a regulation prior to lower court review, and her testimony during the Flint water crisis. She also became the first person to serve as White House National Climate Advisor, a position created to elevate climate change as a central priority of the federal government.
Gina McCarthy Family
Family Background and Personal Life
Gina McCarthy is married to Kenneth McCarey. During her time at the EPA, her husband remained in Massachusetts and would often join her for several weeks at a time in Washington, D.C. The couple has three adult children.
McCarthy grew up in a working-class family of Irish ancestry in the Boston area. Outside of her policy work, she is a fan of the Barefoot Contessa cooking show.