After a lengthy confirmation process, the U.S. Senate approved President Barack Obama's nomination of Gina McCarthy, a former Canton town official, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency in his second term.
The Senate voted 59-40 on July 18 to confirm McCarthy as the next EPA Administrator.
In Obama's first term she was the Assistant Administrator for the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, She was nominated to lead the EPA back in March.
McCarthy grew up in Canton and has degrees from UMass Boston and Tufts University, according to her bio on the Connecticut State website.
She started her career in Canton, and then in neighboring Stoughton as that town's first Environmental Officer.
"She began her career in 1980 as the first full-time Health Agent in the town of Canton, Massachusetts," her bio states.
"After starting a family in 1984, she took a part-time position working for the Board of Health in the neighboring town of Stoughton, where she eventually expanded her responsibilities to become the town's first Environmental Officer, staffing both the Board of Health and Conservation Commission."
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McCarthy went on to have high-ranking environmental positions for both the state of Massachusetts and for the state of Connecticut, before her elevation to Assistant Administrator for the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation.
"I am pleased that...the Senate took bipartisan action to confirm Gina McCarthy as the next Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency," President Obama said in a statement."With years of experience at the state and local level, Gina is a proven leader who knows how to build bipartisan support for commonsense environmental solutions that protect the health and safety of our kids while promoting economic growth. Over the past four years, I have valued Gina’s counsel and I look forward to having her in my Cabinet as we work to slow the effects of climate change and leave a cleaner environment for future generations."
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