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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

EPA Chief Nominee Appears Before Senate Committee Today

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Thursday, April 11, 2013   

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va, - President Obama's pick for the top post at the Environmental Protection Agency appears before a U.S. Senate committee today. While it's not expected to be a cakewalk, many in the energy and business sectors are singing nominee Gina McCarthy's praises.

Richard Good, president of Solar Services in Virginia Beach, has been in the solar industry for several years and said it's time for Americans to wake up to the fact that we must do something to regulate the amount of pollution that is allowed. Good sees McCarthy as the right person.

"I think she's practical, pragmatic, got common sense, and hopefully she's got enough backbone to stand her ground," he said, "and that's needed."

Implications of the Clean Air Act raised concerns for the semiconductor industry's ability to expand facilities and build new plants in the United States. When the issues were brought up to McCarthy, said Stephen Harper, director of environment and energy policy at Intel, she listened.

"Gina really drove her staff, and drove us, very hard to find a way to preserve the basic integrity of the permitting program but make it work for the semiconductor industry," he said.

Applauding her success in finding creative solutions, Harper said it means more good-paying, U.S. jobs.

McCarthy's work experience includes acting as then-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's energy and climate adviser. She was confirmed to her current position - assistant administrator for the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation - by the Senate with bipartisan support.

Some conservatives have expressed concern about the nomination because of McCarthy's stringent efforts at combating climate change, claiming it will cost jobs.

If confirmed, McCarthy would replace Lisa Jackson at the helm of the EPA.


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