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The top candidates Biden is considering for key energy and climate roles

04 December 2020
 Dan Ackermann

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has urged President-elect Joe Biden to nominate Mary Nichols, chair of California's air pollution regulator, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, Bloomberg reports.

Why it matters: The reported push by Schumer could boost Nichol's chances of leading an agency that will play a pivotal role in Biden's vow to enact aggressive new climate policies — especially because the plan is likely to rest heavily on executive actions.

Where it stands: The EPA gig is just one of several important outstanding selections. The New York Times has a nice rundown of names in contention for other energy- and climate-related jobs.

Here's just a few...

  • Mustafa Santiago Ali, a former EPA official, is in contention to head the White House Council on Environmental Quality. He's currently an exec with the National Wildlife Federation.
  • Ali A. Zaidi, a top New York State energy official who also served in the Obama administration, "is widely considered the front-runner for the role of domestic climate change coordinator," the NYT reports.
  • The NYT and E&E News both report that former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm is a possibility for the White House climate coordinator role, while E&E also lists Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee as an option.
  • Michael Connor, an alum of the Obama and Clinton administrations, is among the options for Interior Secretary, per the NYT. He's a citizen of the Taos Pueblo, and the piece notes there's strong interest in nominating a Native American to lead Interior for the first time.
  • Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), one of the first two Native American women elected to Congress, also "remains a contender" for Interior, the NYT reports.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.