Trump-Biden transition: Attorney Sidney Powell back at White House

In accepting his nomination as E.P.A. administrator, Michael Regan drew attention to the "connection between our environment and our health."

Growing up in eastern North Carolina, he said he "developed a deep love and respect for the outdoors and our natural resources," but that he "also experienced respiratory issues that required me to use an inhaler on days where pollutants and allergens were especially bad." 

"We will be driven by our convictions that every person in our great country has the right to clean air, clean water and a healthier life, no matter how much money they have in their pockets, the color of their skin or the community that they live in," he said. "We will move with a sense of urgency on climate change, protecting our drinking water, and enact an environmental justice framework that empowers people in all communities."

The nomination is a "dream come true," said Regan, who previously served nearly a decade at the E.P.A. under both Democratic and Republican presidents.

A graduate of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, he said he also was honored to join Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as a "fellow HBCU graduate in this administration."

On the nomination, Biden noted that Regan, currently secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, would be the first African American man to run the E.P.A.

Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm accepted Biden's nomination as energy secretary Saturday.

"My commitment to clean energy was forged in the fire," Granholm said. "Joe Biden and the Obama administration worked with us to rescue the auto industry and the million jobs that are attached to it. They worked with us to retool and electrify Detroit for the future, of course, and to diversify Michigan's economy on the premise of this promising future in clean energy."

The former governor stressed the importance of investment in clean energy to produce new jobs.

"Over the next two decades, countries and companies are going to invest trillions... in electric cars and batteries and wind turbines and solar panels and energy-efficient appliances and energy-efficient buildings," Granholm said.

"Millions of good-paying jobs are going to be created, millions. But where? Where will those jobs be?" She asked. She said "The path to building back better [is] starting with building and manufacturing and deploying those products here, stamping them “Made in America,” and exporting them around the world."

Biden's nominee for energy secretary highlighted her family's history, as immigrants from Canada, and the importance of good-paying jobs.

"It's because of my family's journey and my experience in fighting for hardworking Michigan families that I have become obsessed with creating good-paying jobs in America in a global economy, obsessed with seizing the opportunities that a clean energy future will provide for American workers. So we can stand on the sidelines and let other countries beat us to these opportunities, or we can get in the game," Granholm said.

New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland said she was honored to accept the nomination for secretary of the interior, which would make her the first Native American Cabinet secretary if confirmed. 

She said the moment was "profound when we consider the fact that a former secretary of the interior once proclaimed fiscal to 'civilize or exterminate us'" -- referring to comments made in 1851 by then-Secretary of the Interior Alexander H. H. Stuart regarding Native Americans.

"I'm a living testament to the failure of that horrific ideology," she said.

As secretary of the interior, she said her role would be to address the challenges of climate change and environmental injustice.

"We will ensure that the decisions at Interior will once again be driven by science," she said. 

"The president-elect and vice president-elect know that issues under Interior’s jurisdiction aren't simply about conservation. They're woven in with justice, good jobs and closing the racial wealth and health gaps," she added.

On her nomination, Biden said Haaland will be a "true steward of our national parks, our natural resources and all of our lands."

"The federal government has long broken promises to Native American tribes who have been on this land since time immemorial," he said.

Biden introduced his climate and energy team nominees and appointees Saturday in Wilmington, Delaware.

"I'm pleased to announce a team that will lead my administration's ambitious plan to address the existential threat of our time, climate change," the president-elect said in his opening remarks.

Biden highlighted the diversity of his Cabinet picks, noting that his nominee for secretary of the interior, Rep. Deb Haaland, would be the first Native American Cabinet secretary if confirmed by the Senate.

"The Biden-Harris cabinet, it will be historic -- the cabinet that looks like America, that taps into the best of America, that opens doors and includes the full range of talents we have in this nation," Biden said.

The president-elect also stressed the importance of taking on an issue central to his administration.

"We literally have no time to waste," Biden said. "We're in a crisis. Just like we need to be a unified nation in response to COVID-19, we need a unified national response to climate change."

Announcing Haaland as his secretary of the interior nominee, the president-elect said, "The Federal government has long broken promises to Native American tribes who have been on land since time immemorial. With her appointment, Congresswoman Haaland will help me strengthen the nation-to-nation relationship, and I’m honored... she’s been willing, when I called her, to accept this critical role."

For his nominee for energy secretary, Biden highlighted former Gov. Jennifer Granholm's commitment to clean energy and helping the Obama administration bail out the auto industry during the Great Recession.

"(Granholm) bet on the promise of a clean energy future. Her leadership helped rescue the automobile industry in the United States of America, helped save a million American jobs, and helped bring Detroit back," Biden said.

The president-elect also announced North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Michael Regan as his nominee for E.P.A. administrator, Regulatory Policy at the Southern Environmental Law Center Director Brenda Mallory as his appointee for chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, former E.P.A Administrator Gina McCarthy as national climate adviser, and New York Deputy Secretary to the Governor for Energy and Environment and Chairman of Climate Policy Ali Zaidi as his deputy national climate adviser.