Granite Staters’ Thank Sen. Ayotte For Her McCarthy EPA Confirmation Vote

Environment New Hampshire

For Immediate Release: July 26, 2013

Granite Staters’ Thank Sen. Ayotte Her McCarthy EPA Confirmation Vote

Manchester, NH – Today, Granite Staters joined Environment New Hampshire outside the local office of Senator Kelly Ayotte, thanking her for voting to confirm Gina McCarthy earlier this week as the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. The group delivered a giant thank you card to Senator Ayotte.

“Gina McCarthy’s confirmation is long-awaited good news for the planet and should not surprise anyone remotely familiar with her record,” said Steve Dzubak, Field Organizer of Environment New Hampshire. “McCarthy’s stellar work under both Republican and Democratic governors, coupled with her track record at EPA proves that when it comes to protecting our families’ health and environment, it isn’t about which party or who you work for. It’s about whether you can get the job done. Gina McCarthy can get the job done.”

Working with a variety of stakeholders over the past four years, McCarthy was integral to several historic initiatives, including federal clean car standards that represent the biggest step the U.S. has ever taken to get off oil and tackle global warming; the first-ever federal limits on mercury pollution from power plants; and the first-ever proposed federal limits on carbon pollution from new power plants.

Standing outside Senator Ayotte’s office, Environment New Hampshire praised Senator Ayotte for their vote. Previously this year, Senator Ayotte had voted to block funding for EPA cleanup of carbon pollution from power plants, as well as to block the EPA from restoring Clean Water Act safeguards to streams and wetlands currently at risk of unlimited pollution.

“Thanks to support from Senator Ayotte, McCarthy can continue to put her professionalism and commitment to work developing solutions to the formidable environmental challenges we still face,” said Dzubak.

In the next three years, EPA must finalize carbon limits for new and existing power plants — the largest sources of global warming pollution — as outlined in President Obama’s recently announced Climate Action Plan. Waters that feed into the drinking water supply of 99 percent of New Hampshire’s residents who rely on surface water supplies are still at risk of unlimited pollution. EPA must also deal with the tremendous health and environmental threats from fracking and move ahead with other much-needed environmental initiatives.

“We want to thank the Senate, especially Sen. Ayotte, for confirming Gina McCarthy’s appointment.”
###