The U.S. Senate has confirmed Brenda Mallory to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), where she will serve as the President’s top in-house environmental advisor, guiding environmental policy decisions across the federal government.

CEQ acts as “mission control” for environmental policy decisions and reviews across the federal government.

• The agency advises the White House and Congress about how to address important environmental issues ranging from land use to energy policy to endangered species.
• One of CEQ’s most important tasks is overseeing the implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) — the law that gives the public a voice in environmental decision-making.

Mallory brings a wealth of experience to the job.

• Mallory most recently served as the director of regulatory policy at the Southern Environmental Law Center.
• Under the Obama administration, she served as general counsel at CEQ.
• Earthjustice senior legislative counsel Stephen Schima says Mallory “holds a deep commitment to protecting everyone, including the most vulnerable, from environmental pollution.”

As she re-centers environmental and public health values in CEQ’s decisionmaking, three things must rise to the top of Mallory’s agenda.

• Restoring NEPA regulations: This past summer, Trump’s CEQ rewrote NEPA to exempt polluting projects from basic environmental reviews and cut the public out of the process. Earthjustice and other groups have filed a legal challenge to this environmental assault.
• Justice for those most burdened by pollution: As the nation grapples with its role in perpetuating historic and structural racism, we must seek an end to environmental discrimination against communities of color.
• Swift and comprehensive action on climate change: We must move quickly to transition to clean energy, prioritizing communities that have borne the brunt of pollution from fossil fuels.

Earthjustice partners with many communities who bear the brunt of climate change and industrial pollution, and who need the government on their side as they fight for clean air and water. We look forward to working with Mallory to shape environmental policy for the better.