our witness today's honorable gina mccarthy administrator of the environmental protection agency. prior to her appointment as administrator she was the assistant administrator for epa's office of air and radiation where she abdicated to protect public health and the environment. during her career which spans over 30 years she has worked with at the state and local levels on environmental issues and helps coordinate policies on economic growth energy transportation and the environment. administrator mccarthy received a bachelor of arts degree in social anthropology at the university of massachusetts and the masters of science in environmental health and community in planning from tufts university. at this time i will yield to the gentlewoman from connecticut ms. etsy for additional comments. >> thank you chairman smith and ranking member johnson for holding today's hearing on the environmental protection agency. i'm very pleased to welcome administrator gina mccarthy who served as commissioner of connecticut's department of environmental protection and then as an assistant administ

epa administrator gina mccarthy said earlier this month that environmental policies and regulations that affect the lives of americans need to be grounded in quality and transparent science. she testified before the house science committee which is chaired by congressman lamar smith of texas. [inaudible conversations] >> the committee on science space technology will come to order. welcome everyone to today's hearing entitled strengthening transparency and accountability within the environmental protection agency. i'm going to recognize myself for five minutes for an opening statement and then i will recognize the ranking member for hers. the environmental protection agency like every other governmental institution should answer to the american people. everyone agrees that we need to protect the environment but we should do so in a way that is open and honest. democracy requires transparency and accountability. yet the epa's justifications for its regulations are cloaked in secret science. it appears the epa bends the law instructs as the signs to justify its own objectives. americans im

congressman paul brown threw this question about the affordable care act at epa administrator gina mccarthy. listen carefully to her response. >> let me ask you one more question because my time is running out. are you signed up for obama care? >> no, i am not. >> why not? >> well, because i'm lucky enough as a federal government that i have a health care available to me, which i've signed up for, and in a few years when that's not the case, i'll be happy to have other available -- >> the president said that obama care is -- >> did you get that, mccarthy is referring to the fact that she's lucky enough to already have health insurance. congressman steve stockman chose to hear it differently. listen to what he says a few minutes later in the hearing. >> i think, though, you earlier gave me my favorite tweet of the day for someone to send out which is i'm lucky enough to -- oh, really the quote is from you. it says i'm lucky enough not to have to sign up for obama care. that's wonderful. i wish my constituents could say the same. >> i actually think i was referring to i'm lucky to have access

epa, congressman paul broun tried to make news with this question for epa administer gina mccarthy. listen carefully to how miss mccarthy responds and watch how he distorts it. >> let me ask you one more question because my time is running out. are you signed up for obama care? >> no, i am not. >> well, because i'm lucky enough as a federal government i have health care available to me, which i've signed up for. in a few years when that's not the case i'll be happy to have other available health care opportunities. >> to be clear mccarthy is referring to the fact she's lucky enough to already have health insurance, not knocking affordable care act. a few minutes later right to her face congressman stockton chose to take her words differently. that's number two in our countdown. >> earlier you gave me my favorite tweet of the day, which is i'm lucky enough -- the quote is from you. i love it. it seems i'm luckn enough not to have to sign up for obama care. that's wonderful. i wish my constituents could say the same. >> i think i was referring to i'm lucky enough to have access to goo

a view echoed by other republicans at a recent hearing with epa administrator gina mccarthy. >> making matters worse, the courts defer to the epa especially when questions involve the analysis of science. >> the powerful d.c. circuit court is set to hear several important case that is will directly impact the epa and its ability to enforce clean air and water regulations that some big businesses worry will affect their bottom line. >> one big one that's coming up is an epa regulation that effectively outlaws the new coal fired power plant. it sets the standards impossibly high. so high it's beyond what our current technology can do. it would have huge impacts on coal state. >> to invoke the nuclear option and effectively end the filibuster will clear the way for congress to quickly approve three of the president's judicial nominees to the d.c. circuit court of appeals. >> what that means is we'll have a much more politicized court. we're seeing nominees put forward by the president that he has said these are people that i want to be able to advance my agenda. >> the fact is there are t

congressman paul browne tried to make some news with this question for epa administrate, jean gina mccarthy. listen to how she responds and how he distorts. >> let me ask one more time because my time is running out. are you signed up for obama care? >> no, i am not. >> why not? >> because i'm lucky enough as a federal government that i have health care available to me, which i've signed up for. in a few years, when that's not the case, i'll be happy to have other available -- >> well, our president says that obama care is -- >> well, to be clear, mccarthy there is referring to the fact that she is lucky enough to already have health insurance. show not knocking the affordable care act. well, a few minutes later in the hearing, right to her face, congressman steve stockman chose to interpret her words somewhat differently. and that's number two in our countdown. >> i think, though, you earlier gave me my favorite tweet of the day, which i'm going send out. >> shoot. that wasn't my intent. >> oh, really? the quote is from you. i love it. it says i'm lucky enough not to have to sign up for ob

the afbc was ebbs treatmently pleased to be able to host epa administrator gina mccarthy as a keynote speaker at its second annual business summit on building a sustainable economy just two weeks ago. the afbc is generally supportive of the efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants we have also urged the state department to disapprove the construction of the keystone xl pipeline to pump tar sands oils from canada. up until mid 2012, i was also the ceo of community forklift, a used building materials store in maryland just a mile outside of the district of columbia. community forklift is a net negative carbon emitter as has been documented in the research of bradley guy who teaches at the graduate sustainable design program at catholic university of america. in 2011 community forklift inhibited the release of 513 more mega tons of carbon equivalents in its annual operations than it emitted due to the fact that raw, virgin raw materials were not extracted, nor energy used to manufacture new building materials. i believe that building material reuse is a significant

then environmental protection agency administrator gina mccarthy testifying before the house science committee. the at the heavy water nuclear reactor. at today's state department briefing, spokesman said that under last week's nuclear deal they cannot work on the reactor. >> he keeps saying that construction is continuing as the heavy water reactor facility. why is not a breaking of the deal? >> well, we've seen his comments where he said and just so -- in case folks have not seen them. what he said the capacity of the site is not going to increase. it means no nuclear fuel produced. and no installations will be installed. but construction will continue there. we're not sure exactly what he means by construction in the comment that he makes. but there will be no work on the reactor in the comment he made. .. >> i'm happy to check. >> you says yesterday too, i think. i mean, surely they are in touch with people already; right? >> well, i think what i said was, well, we don't, you know, if he's referring to a road or outbuilding there, that's something different. obviously, there's sp

our witness today is the honorable gina mccarthy. prior to her appointment as administrator, she was the assistant administrator for epa's officer of air and radiation, where she advocated to protect public health and the environment. during her career, which spans over 30 years she worked at both the state and local levels on environmental issues and helped coordinate policies on economic growth, transportation, and the environment. administrator mccarthy received a bachelor of arts degree in social anthropology in massachusetts ands masters of science in environmental health engineering and planning. at this time, i'll yield to the gentlewoman from connecticut for additional comments. >> thank you, mr. chairman. for holding the hearing on the environmental protection agency. i'm pleased to welcome the administrator who served as commissioner of connecticut's department of environmental protection and then as assistant administrator at the u.s. epa. administrator mccarthy, it's wonderful to see you again. congratulations on your con