Gina McCarthy Quotes

#1. But just [proposing the standard] puts companies on notice that if you're looking to construct a new natural-gas or coal facility, you really need to pay attention to these. This is what they should be designing new facilities toward as soon as this proposal hits the streets.

Gina McCarthy

#2. When discussing overall impacts on employment, it is important not to overlook the new technologies and industries that can be driven by pollution control standards.

Gina McCarthy

#3. Proponents of efficiency standards argue that they save consumers and businesses money, reduce energy use, and reduce emissions. But families and businesses already understand how energy costs impact their lives and make decisions accordingly.

Gina McCarthy

#4. I definitely challenge people. But hopefully, I am working harder than anybody else, and so people won't resent the fact that I want them to work hard, as well.

Gina McCarthy

#5. There is no threshold level of fine particle pollution below which health risk reductions are not achieved by reduced exposure.

Gina McCarthy

#6. States with tremendous oil and natural gas reserves have the most to gain economically from proper regulation.

Gina McCarthy

#7. If coal wants a place in a carbon-constrained future, they have to look at technology like this. And we think that our rule can help stimulate technology, growth, and innovation, bring those costs down, and allow coal a more stable opportunity to continue to be invested in.

Gina McCarthy

#8. I love disagreements. I love the democratic process. If I'm in a room where everybody agrees, I start to nod off.

Gina McCarthy

#9. Even if there's controversy, I'm going to make the decision, and people are going to be happy in one instance and unhappy in the next. But that's the job I've been given and the job I'm going to embrace.

Gina McCarthy

#10. The EPA's greenhouse gas regulations, along with a host of other onerous regulations, are unnecessarily driving out conventional fuels as part of America's energy mix. The consequences are higher energy prices for families and a contraction of our nation's economic growth.

Gina McCarthy

#11. EPA gets to set a standard for new. For the existing, EPA sets guidelines for what we think is appropriate, but then states develop plans that work for them, taking into consideration their specific energy mix.

Gina McCarthy

#12. Greenhouse gas pollution, through its contribution to global climate change, presents a significant threat to Americans' health and to the environment upon which our economy and security depends.

Gina McCarthy

#13. When consumers do not take full advantage of efficiency gains, it is because they are weighing other factors that influence their decision making. When the federal government arbitrarily places one of those factors over others, it makes consumers worse off.

Gina McCarthy

#14. But I will tell you that I didn't go to Washington to sit around and wait for Congressional action. Never done that before, and don't plan to in the future,

Gina McCarthy

#15. Critics play a dangerous game when they denounce the science and law EPA has used to defend clean air for more than 40 years. The American people know better.

Gina McCarthy

#16. Any first-generation technology will. But we are looking at carbon the same way we look at every pollutant under the Clean Air Act; we look for the new technologies that are available. We recognize that these power plants are going to be around for decades.

Gina McCarthy

#17. I cannot shy away from controversy. I don't know if it's my Irish blood, but I love it.

Gina McCarthy

#18. Transparency is all about letting in and embracing new ideas, new technology and new approaches. No individual, entity or agency, no matter how smart, how old, or how experienced, can afford to stop learning.

Gina McCarthy

#19. People are not running to build coal facilities because of the price of natural gas, but we do see them being constructed, and there is an interest in fuel diversity, so we took the exercise pretty seriously.

Gina McCarthy