Biden EPA nominee vows to preserve resources, boost economy

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s nominee to run the Environmental Protection Agency says he learned the importance of preserving the outdoors while hunting and fishing with his father and grandfather in rural North Carolina.

Michael Regan tells a Senate committee that protecting those lands and waters are a key to economic growth, along with protecting public health.

Regan, who has served as top environmental regulator in his home states since 2017, is testifying to his Senate environment committee Wednesday.

If confirmed, he would be the first African American man to run EPA and take over after four years in which former President Donald Trump sought to weaken or eliminate dozens of key public health and environmental protections.