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Michael Regan
President-elect Joe Biden introduced his climate and energy team on Saturday , a history-making group that will seek to advance an ambitious climate agenda t h a t r e v e r s e s m a n y Tr u m p administration policies . Michael Regan would become the first Black man to run the Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ) if confirmed by the Senate , and U . S . Representative Deb Haaland , as interior secretary , would be the first Native American Cabinet member . " This moment is profound when we consider the fact that a former secretary of the Interior once proclaimed it his goal to , quote , ' civilize or exterminate ' us ," said Haaland , referring to comments made by Alexander H . H . Stuart in 1851 . " I ' m a living testament to the failure of that horrific ideology ."
Biden , a Democrat who will be
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inaugurated on Jan . 20 , has vowed to make tackling climate change a top priority . But with a slim majority in the House of Representatives and control of the Senate still undecided , his agenda may see little success in Congress and instead rely on rules from his regulatory agencies to enact sweeping change . Biden , who served as vice president to President Barack Obama , tapped Obama ' s EPA administrator , Gina |
McCarthy , to fill a new role as national climate adviser .
Former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm will be Biden ' s energy secretary if confirmed .
" Today ' s nominees are ready on day one , which is essential because we literally have no time to waste ," Biden said at a media briefing in his home state of Delaware .
Environmental groups have largely praised the team for its experience and diversity . But the powerful fossil fuel industry , which Biden has frequently criticized , has argued he must balance climate efforts with preserving jobs .
Biden wants the United States to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 , which would require the world ' s second-largest emitter to transform its economy including transportation , power generation and farming .
He diverges sharply from President Donald Trump , who withdrew Washington from the Paris climate accord and softened or dismantled climate regulations the administration deemed harmful to the economy . The president-elect on Saturday spoke with Mexico ' s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador about a " new approach " to regional migration and its causes in Central America , the Biden transition team said .
Trump on Saturday continued to falsely assert on Twitter that the election had been stolen from him through voter fraud .
The Republican president on Friday evening discussed with Sidney Powell , a lawyer formerly on his election challenge team , her potential appointment as a special government counsel to probe allegations of voter fraud , according to a source familiar with the meeting . Powell has promoted unproven conspiracy theories about rigged voting machines .
It was unclear whether Trump intended to move forward with the plan . Both White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and White House counsel Pat Cipollone strenuously objected to the idea , the source said .
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T H E M A G A Z I N E O F T H E C O R P O R A T E W O R L D
STRATEGY + BUSINESS
BABATUNDE FOWLER , CEO , LIRS
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