Sen. Barrasso to take a close look at Obama's nomination for EPA head

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President Obama today announced his nomination for an Environmental Protection Agency administrator. President Obama’s pick, Gina McCarthy, is currently an assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation.

McCarthy has been said to work well with industry while being an aggressive regulator. She helped create rules to curb mercury and soot emissions from power plants during President Obama’s first term.

But she is expected to have a rocky road toward confirmation. Wyoming Senator John Barrasso initially blocked her nomination to her current position in 2009, and he will be involved in McCarthy’s confirmation hearing this time around, too.

He says, “I have serious concerns about how the current EPA operates.  We can’t afford another Administrator who bypasses Congress and rolls out more red tape that discourages job creation.  I’m going to take a very close look at Ms. McCarthy’s experience at the EPA and her vision for the agency.”

If confirmed she will likely take on climate-change policy in the EPA.