EPA administrator: ‘We’re just moving forward to do what Congress told us to do’

PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff sits down with Environmental Protection Agency administrator Gina McCarthy to talk about how the agency is tackling mercury, carbon emissions and the role of coal fired power plants in America’s energy future.

“Carbon is a pollutant under the Clean Air Act,” McCarthy stated. “My job is really to control pollution and deal with the environmental challenges that we’re facing, one of which is climate change.”

McCarthy also discusses how the EPA plans to move forward with President Obama’s climate action plan. In the video above, she responds to the criticism of the agency and the president’s conflicts with Congress.

“EPA is the sole agency in the federal government that’s all about protecting public health and the environment,” she said. “We’re just moving forward to do what Congress has told us to do in the way they’ve told us to do it.”

Watch the full interview on The PBS NewsHour Thursday.