EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT

DATE: Noon ET Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021.

EVENT: An online conversation with Gina McCarthy, the country’s first National Climate Advisor.

As the president’s chief advisor on domestic climate policy, McCarthy leads the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy focused on mobilizing a whole-of-government approach to tackling the climate crisis, creating good-paying union jobs and securing environmental justice.

Having served as the 13th administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and then as president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council, McCarthy has been at the forefront of environmental and public health progress in a variety of leading roles for more than three decades.

The 19th annual Wege Lecture will be moderated by Tony Reames, the senior advisor for the Office of Economic Impact & Diversity at the U.S. Department of Energy, and an assistant professor at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability.

The lecture will be followed by a Q & A with Kyle Whyte, a member of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council and the George Willis Pack Professor of Environment and Sustainability at U-M SEAS.

In her time leading the EPA, McCarthy oversaw successful efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, mitigate air pollution, conserve critical water sources and safeguard vulnerable communities from chemical hazards. She spearheaded the Obama-Biden Administration’s Clean Power Plan, which set America’s national standards for lowering carbon emissions from power plants, and she helped pave the way for the Paris Climate Agreement. Prior to her role with the NRDC, McCarthy was a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and currently serves as chair of the board of directors of the Harvard Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment.

Throughout her career, McCarthy has advised five administrations of both Democratic and Republican Massachusetts governors on environmental matters, and she served as commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection prior to being appointed by President Obama to head up the EPA’s Air Office. As EPA administrator, she pursued innovative global collaborations with the United Nations and the World Health Organization, and on global efforts to address pollution.

The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Register for the event.

PLACE: The Wege Lecture is a virtual online event.

SPONSORS: Co-sponsors of the event include the University of Michigan Center for Sustainable Systems and the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability.