Gina McCarthy: Strong Climate Credentials Plus a Sense of Humor

President Obama's expected choice to lead the Environmental Protection Agency is Gina McCarthy, who as an assistant EPA administrator has shaped some of the agency's most contentious rules, including greenhouse gas regulations for new cars and power plants and air pollution standards for oil and gas drilling.

McCarthy, 58, hasn't made any public statements about what she would do if confirmed as EPA administrator, and the Office of Air and Radiation—which she currently heads—didn't return a request for comment. To get an idea of how she might lead the agency, we examined some of the speeches she's given over the past four years.

McCarthy's record shows she's a strong supporter of climate action. In 2009, when Congress was debating a carbon cap-and-trade bill (which died in 2010), she told a group of Connecticut energy experts that the country needs a "comprehensive energy bill moving forward that provides a cap-and-trade system" to deal with climate change.

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