The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) announced on Tuesday that they have hired former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy as its chief executive officer, a press release on its website said.

McCarthy said in the release:

I take the helm determined to see that NRDC brings our country, and our world, together in the fight for a future that is healthier, more sustainable and equitable. For 50 years NRDC has stood up for the protection of our environment and the health of people.

“The climate crisis is the central challenge of our time,” McCarthy said. “The stakes have never been higher, and NRDC has never been stronger.”

“NRDC was built for this moment,” McCarthy said. “It was built for this mission.”

“I am excited to work to expand NRDC’s reach and strengthen our capacity to drive needed change,” McCarthy said.

NRDC praised McCarthy’s work as head of EPA under Barack Obama, including her help on the Paris Climate Accord. The announcement of her hiring comes on the same day that President Donald Trump announced the official departure  of the U.S. from the climate agreement:

In her role as U.S. EPA Administrator, McCarthy oversaw some of the most consequential work in the agency’s history, including strengthening safeguards for clean water and air, setting the first-ever limits on carbon pollution from power plants and advancing the U.S. environmental diplomacy that helped produce the landmark 2015 Paris climate agreement.

The announcement does not mention McCarthy’s role in the disastrous toxic spill into Colorado’s Animas River, which Breitbart News reported on in August 2015:

The same environmental groups who called for severe penalties against companies and industry executives responsible for similar environmental catastrophes are singing a different tune now that the EPA has caused a toxic waste blowout into Colorado’s Animas River.

A spokesperson for the NRDC elaborated on the organization’s views in an interview with Breitbart News.

“EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said on Tuesday everyone at EPA was very sorry for the spill and would work to make sure this tragedy never happens again,” NRDC spokesperson and director of strategic engagement Bob Deans tells Breitbart News.

Deans says NRDC thinks the EPA should be “held accountable” for the spill, but was unable to say what “holding them accountable” actually means.

He declined to call for the firing of any EPA executives, when asked specifically whether EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy or EPA Region 8 Administrator Sean McGrath should be fired.

“We want to withhold comment until all the facts are in. You know, when the BP oil rig blew out in the Gulf Coast a few years ago, it took months to find out what happened.”

“McCarthy will be taking the helm of NRDC at the most critical time in the environmental movement’s history,” the press release said. “She will support NRDC’s work to defend bedrock natural resources and public health protections, while advancing vital solutions to our climate crisis across the world.”

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