Regina McCarthy (born May 3, 1954[citation needed]) is an American air quality expert who served as the first White House national climate advisor from 2021 to 2022.

On March 4, 2013, President Barack Obama nominated McCarthy to replace Lisa Jackson as EPA administrator.

She later attended Tufts University, where she received a Master of Science combining Environmental Health Engineering with Planning and Policy in 1981.

[citation needed] McCarthy has worked on environmental issues at the state and local levels and has developed policies on economic growth, energy, transportation and the environment.

[11] In that role she developed and implemented the first regional policy to trade carbon credits to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

[14] On March 16, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated McCarthy to serve as assistant administrator for the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation.

Daniel Fiorino, director of the Center for Environmental Policy at American University, said: "Her nomination signals that the president really wants to deliver on his State of the Union objectives to take serious action on climate change.

"[21] On July 18, 2013, the Senate confirmed McCarthy as the thirteenth Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency by a vote of 59–40, largely along party lines.

[26] Congress passed a joint resolution under the Congressional Review Act overturning the "WOTUS" rule,[27] but President Obama vetoed the measure.

[30] On March 17, 2016, McCarthy and Michigan Governor Rick Snyder testified before the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding the Flint water crisis.

[31] McCarthy, however, insisted the EPA had done nothing wrong and that "there is no way my agency created this problem"; she was at times shouted down by outraged members of Congress.

[citation needed] In November 2019, McCarthy was appointed president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council, effective early 2020.

[41][42] McCarthy said she was initially reluctant to join the administration until Biden adopted a broad view of climate change.

She said that when Biden as a candidate for president "made the connection between climate and health and environmental and racial justice, and he framed it in terms of what needed to be done after the pandemic for job growth" she was persuaded and "energized".