President Joe Biden‘s top climate adviser, Gina McCarthy, is set to leave the White House, and veteran Democratic aide John Podesta will join as an adviser for clean energy.
The transition, which will also see deputy Ali Zaidi take over McCarthy’s role, comes just weeks after lawmakers passed the largest climate spending bill in U.S. history.
“Under Gina McCarthy and Ali Zaidi’s leadership, my administration has taken the most aggressive action ever, from historic legislation to bold executive actions, to confront the climate crisis head-on,” Biden said in a statement announcing the changes.
McCarthy, who had been the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under former President Barack Obama from 2013 to 2017, had planned to stay in the role for about a year but agreed to stay on longer to help pass the Inflation Reduction Act, which provides nearly $370 billion in funding for new clean energy tax credits and climate change-fighting provisions.
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Podesta coordinated White House climate efforts as a counselor to Obama. He also chaired Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and was the White House chief of staff under former President Bill Clinton.
He is now tasked with implementing the major climate spending provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, which Democrats intend to use to transform the energy and automobile sectors.
