Environmental Chair

At the end of January, Kathleen McGinty was sworn is as Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) by U.S. Vice President Al Gore. McGinty serves as President Clinton’s senior advisor on issues relating to the environment, and is responsible for the administration’s environmental policy. She will also mediate between federal agencies and oversee the review and reform of current programs. 

McGinty is sure to come in for plenty of media attention, as the environment is becoming a bigger issue every year. She has been acting chair of CEQ since January 1995, and was confirmed by the Senate in December, having previously served as the Director of the White House Office on Environmental Policy. 

She was behind a series of reforms to the Superfund toxic waste cleanup program, a forest plan for the pacific Northwest, restoring the unique Florida Everglades, and improving the management of the California Bay-Delta Waterway. 

McGinty also worked for then-Senator Al Gore as senior legislative assistant for energy and environmental policy. She graduated from Columbia University School of Law and St Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.