Maxwell Bernstein | December 18, 2020

President-elect Joe Biden plans to choose Michael S. Regan, North Carolina’s top environmental leader to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), making this the first time a Black man will lead the EPA, according to The New York Times.

The Biden administration has vowed to eliminate fossil fuel from the power grid by 2035 and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The administration promised to address environmental justice by protecting poor and minority communities who are more exposed to pollution than wealthier communities. This promise comes after more than 70 environmental justice groups wrote a letter to the Biden administration that urged the administration to focus on environmental justice.