Carol Browner | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2010 | |
| Director of theOffice of Energy and Climate Change Policy | |
| In office January 22, 2009 – March 3, 2011 | |
| President | Barack Obama |
| Deputy | Heather Zichal |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| 8thAdministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency | |
| In office January 31, 1993 – January 20, 2001 | |
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | William K. Reilly |
| Succeeded by | Christine Todd Whitman |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Carol Martha Browner (1955-12-16)December 16, 1955 (age 70) Miami, Florida, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouses | |
| Education | University of Florida (BA,JD) |
Carol Martha Browner (born December 16, 1955) is an Americanlawyer,environmentalist, andbusinesswoman who served as director of theWhite House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy in theObama administration from 2009 to 2011. Browner previously served asAdministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during theClinton administration from 1993 to 2001. She currently works as a Senior Counselor atAlbright Stonebridge Group, a global business strategy firm.
Browner grew up inFlorida and graduated from theUniversity of Florida and theUniversity of Florida College of Law. After working for theFlorida House of Representatives, she was employed byCitizen Action in Washington, D.C. She became a legislative assistant for SenatorsLawton Chiles andAl Gore. Browner then headed theFlorida Department of Environmental Regulation from 1991 to 1993, where she turned it into one of the most active departments in the state government.
She was the longest-serving administrator in the history of the EPA, staying through both terms of the Clinton presidency. During her tenure, she reorganized the agency's enforcement structure and oversaw two new programs designed to create flexible partnerships with industry as an alternative to traditional regulation. She started a successful program to deal with contaminated lands in urban areas. She took the lead within the administration in defending existingenvironmental laws and budgets and was the driving force behind a stringent tightening ofair quality standards that led to a prolonged political and legal battle.
Afterward, Browner became a founding member of theAlbright Group andAlbright Capital Management in 2001. She also served on a number of boards of directors and committees dealing with environmental issues. Her director role in the Obama administration was sometimes informally referred to as the "Energy Czar" or "Climate Czar". Her efforts towards getting comprehensiveclimate and energy legislation passed in Congress came to no avail, but she assumed a prominent role in the federal government's response to theBPDeepwater Horizon oil spill during 2010. She left her position in 2011 and the job itself was abolished shortly thereafter. Following that she rejoined the merged Albright Stonebridge Group, continued being active in several boards of environmental organizations, joined the boards of some energy- and agriculture-related companies, and became an advocate for nuclear energy in response to the dangers ofglobal warming.
Born inMiami, Florida,[2][3] on December 16, 1955,[2][4] Browner is the daughter of Isabella Harty-Hugues and Michael Browner, both of whom were professors atMiami Dade Community College, in social science and English respectively.[5] She has two younger sisters.[5] Browner grew up inSouth Miami,[5] and her hikes in the nearbyEverglades – only a bicycle ride away from her house[6] – gave her a close connection to the natural world:[5][7] "I was very shaped by growing up in that kind of environment where nature was right there."[8]
Browner received herB.A. degree from theUniversity of Florida in 1977, majoring in English.[7][9] She then graduated from theUniversity of Florida College of Law with aJ.D. degree in 1979.[10][11]
During 1980 and 1981, Browner worked as General Counsel for theFlorida House of Representatives Committee on Government Operations.[6] There she helped revise Florida's Conservation and Recreational Lands Program.[12] In 1983, she moved toWashington, D.C. and worked as associate director for the nationalCitizen Action group, a grassroots lobbying organization that was active in environmental issues.[6][9]
Browner met Michael Podhorzer, a specialist in health-care issues at Citizen Action,[5] in 1983.[13] They married in 1987[13] and lived inTakoma Park, Maryland.[14] They have a son, Zachary, born in 1987.[5][9]
Between 1986 and 1988, Browner served as chief legislative assistant toDemocratic U.S. SenatorLawton Chiles from Florida.[3] In that role, she worked on a complex negotiation to expand Florida'sBig Cypress National Preserve[6][12] as well as on a ban onoffshore drilling nearby theFlorida Keys.[15] During 1989, she served as a legal counsel for theSenate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.[15] She was not averse to in-field investigation, and once dived in coastal waters to do research while pregnant.[6]
From 1988 to 1991, Browner worked as legislative director for SenatorAl Gore,[3] and became known as a Gore protégé.[16][17] She helped prepare amendments to theClean Air Act[15] and managed Gore's legislative staff.[12]
As Secretary of Environmental Regulation,[5] Browner headed theFlorida Department of Environmental Regulation from 1991 to 1993,[3] while living inTallahassee.[12] It was the nation's third-largest such state agency, with 1,500 employees and a budget of some $650 million.[16] There she believed that economic development and environmental protection did not have to be in conflict with each other.[5] She revitalized the demoralized department and turned it into one of the most active in the Florida state government.[5] She shortened the amount of time it took the department to review development permits for wetlands-affected areas and for manufacturing plants; in doing so, she annoyed some environmentalists who thought that the streamlined procedures diminished public review.[5]
Browner pushed for the halting of construction of new hazardous waste plants and municipal waste incinerators, on the grounds that health and environmental consequences were insufficiently known.[16] She brokered a deal withWalt Disney World that would allow it to build on wetlands it owned, in exchange for $40 million of work by Disney to restore endangered wetlands nearby.[15] She pleased environmentalists by persuading Chiles, who had become governor, to negotiate a settlement to a federal lawsuit regarding damage toEverglades National Park and forcing the Florida sugar industry to bear much of the $1 billion cost.[5] The head of Florida's largest business trade association described dealing with Browner: "She kicks the door open, throws in a hand grenade, and then walks in to shoot who's left. She really doesn't like to compromise. [But she] has done a pretty good job down here. People have more complaints with the way she does it than what she does."[18]
After the1992 presidential election, Browner served as transition director for Vice President-elect Gore.[19] President-electBill Clinton announced her as his choice forEnvironmental Protection Agency head on December 11, 1992.[16] While both Clinton and Gore had criticized theGeorge H. W. Bush administration's commitment to environmental protection during the campaign,[20] the selection of Browner – who was described byThe Washington Post as having "the mind and training of an attorney-legislator but the soul of an activist" – was seen as an indication that Gore's ardent environmentalism had won out over Clinton's more pro-business mindset.[18] Clinton later wrote that he had not known her, but that Chiles had recommended her highly and Gore had requested she be named.[21] The pick, along with several others of Gore protégés that Clinton made, helped solidify the vice president's position within the administration.[22] At her confirmation hearings before theUnited States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Browner came across as pragmatic and allayed fears that she would be excessively influenced by or tied to Gore.[23] She was confirmed by the unanimous consent of theUnited States Senate on January 21, 1993.[24]
She and Podhorzer returned toTakoma Park, Maryland, and he continued to work atCitizen Action.[14] Her long-term goal was "to leave the world a slightly better place", and she practiced various environmentally beneficial practices at home.[13] She avoided theNannygate problems of some of Clinton's other early female nominees by having never used a nanny.[13] She continued to lead an active outdoor life via bicycling, skiing, and jogging.[13]
At the EPA, Browner supervised some 17,000 employees and a $7 billion budget.[13] Early in her administration, she angered some EPA employees by publicly stating that the organization lacked management accountability and discipline and was wasting taxpayer money.[23] Soon after taking office, Browner and her top aides, including assistant administrator for enforcementSteven Herman, reorganized several awkward and inefficient agency enforcement structures into a singleOffice of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.[20] The EPA's regional offices were permitted flexibility in reworking their own enforcement structures, however, which led to some bureaucratic conflicts.[25]
Browner found criticism from both sides of environmental issues[13] and battled many environmentalists, who objected to her support for repeal of the 1958Delaney clause regarding permissible levels of carcinogens in foods.[23] Her announcement in May 1993 that the EPA would impose a moratorium on new incinerator and industrial furnace licensing drew support from environmentalists, however.[23] A move by Clinton to elevate the EPA and Browner to Cabinet-level status failed in late 1993 to gain sufficient Congressional support.[26][27] Many of her legislative desires had to take a back seat to the higher-priority1993 Clinton health care plan.[13]
When theRepublican Party took control of Congress after the1994 U.S. elections, Browner took the lead for the Clinton administration in successfully fighting efforts by the Republicans, especially in the House of Representatives, to amend theClean Water Act[28][29] and to roll back other environmental regulations.[30] She was able to work in a bipartisan manner, though, with Republicans in helping craft amendments to theSafe Drinking Water Act and passage of theFood Quality Protection Act.[31] During the budget-cutting negotiations surrounding thefederal government shutdown in 1995, Browner successfully protected the EPA's review and enforcement powers and managed to gain over $750 million in increased spending for the agency.[32] Her bureaucratic effectiveness illustrated what one of her top aides characterized as her talent: "an extreme focus on a single issue where she is completely certain that she is right".[32]
Two initiatives begun by the Clinton administration under Browner's tenure were part of its"reinventing government" program and sought to realize the notion ofenvironmental contracts as a way of expanding the EPA's flexible public-private partnerships, as an alternative to traditional regulation.[33] Project XL in 1995 was designed to find common sense, cost-effective solutions to environmental issues at individual facilities,[33] while the Common Sense Initiative in 1994 was targeted at efforts involving entire industry sectors, rather than dealing with issues on a crisis-by-crisis, pollutant-by-pollutant basis.[34] Project XL had mixed results, with some success stories but an uncertain legal basis regarding enforcement and less active participation than envisioned.[33] The more ambitious Common Sense Initiative, which somewhat resembled the environmental covenants appearing in some European countries and also incorporated the viewpoints ofenvironmental justice, showed limitations in some areas but successes in theprinting andmetal finishing and plating industries before being concluded in 1998.[33][34]
In March 1995, Browner and the EPA were charged by theHouse Government Reform and Oversight Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs with violating the federal Anti-Lobbying Act (18 U.S. Code§ 1913) by faxing unsolicited material opposing the Republican-sponsored regulatory reform package to various corporations and public-interest groups.[35][36] Browner denied the accusation, saying the charge was an attempt to keep her from debating a possible rollback of health and environmental protections.[37]
As EPA Administrator, Browner started the agency's successful Brownfields Program in 1995.[38] The program helped facilitate cleanups ofbrownfield lands and their contaminated facilities, especially in urban areas, by empowering states, communities, and assorted stakeholders in economic development.[38] It leveraged more than $1 billion in public and private funds for cleanups and created thousands of new jobs, while enabling hundreds of communities to bring idle properties back into productive use.[31]
Perhaps Browner's biggest triumph[17] came in 1997, when she convinced Clinton to support a stringent tightening of theClean Air Act'sNational Ambient Air Quality Standards regarding permissible levels of theground-level ozone that makes upsmog and the fine airborneparticulate matter that makes upsoot.[39][40] The decision came after months of public review of the proposed new standards that became the most divisive environmental debate of the decade.[41] There was a long and fierce internal discussion within the administration, with opposition from the president's economic advisers echoing strong objections from some industry groups who said the costs of the new standards would far outweigh any benefits[39] and that Browner had exaggerated the degree of certainty behind the EPA's scientific reviews on the matter.[32][42] Over eighty environmental and health groups, who had grown quite frustrated with the administration's preference for minimal-cost incremental actions in the area, pressured Vice President Gore to take a stand on the matter, but he remained silent.[30] Browner's adamant defense in favor of the new standards was conducted almost single-handedly, in private meetings, Congressional testimony, and public debate,[32] and had come in the face of a silence from the White House that had put at risk her standing within the administration.[43] Some within the administration objected to her unwillingness to modify her stance and even suggested she be fired for insubordination.[42] Ultimately, Gore lent behind-the-scenes support in favor of the new regulations, which was a key factor in Clinton's final decision in Browner's favor.[30][39][42][43] Overall,The New York Times termed Browner's actions "a remarkable piece of bureaucratic bravura"[32] andTime magazine labelled Browner the "Queen of Clean Air".[42] As the decision was announced, one which would affect hundreds of American cities and towns,[30] Browner said: "These new standards will provide new health protections to 125 million Americans, including 35 million children."[39]
The change to the standards had to survive Congressional review, but the support of Republicans from the northeast, especially New York SenatorAl D'Amato, helped compensate for Democrats opposed to them.[41][42] The new regulations were challenged in the courts by industry groups as a violation of theU.S. Constitution's nondelegation principle and eventually landed in theU.S. Supreme Court,[40] whose 2001 unanimous ruling in the case now titledWhitman v. American Trucking Associations, Inc. largely upheld Browner's and the EPA's actions.[44] Browner and the EPA also took action against air pollution caused by motor vehicles, issuing standards in 1999 that for the first time includedlight trucks andsport utility vehicles to meet the same emission standards as cars, and that would require thesulfur content ofgasoline to be reduced by 90 percent over five years.[45][46]
During her tenure, Browner also began efforts to deal withglobal warming, giving the EPA authority to regulate carbon emissions causing climate change, although the EPA under the followingGeorge W. Bush administration chose not to use that authority.[17] Several other policies of hers were reversed in the Bush administration as well.[26]
During Browner's tenure, there were many reports from African American employees of racism directed at them from a network of "good old boys" who dominated the agency's middle management.[47] The most known of these reports involved policy specialistMarsha Coleman-Adebayo, who in 1997 filed suit against the agency; in 2000, the court found the EPA guilty of discrimination against Coleman-Adebayo, and awarded her $300,000.[47][48] Coleman-Adebayo said that Browner allowed the problems to persist rather than trying to clean them up.[47] In an October 2000 Congressional hearing on the matter,[49] Browner emphasized that minorities had tripled in number in the agency's senior rank during her time as administrator, but was unable to explain why the culprits in Coleman-Adebayo's case had not been dismissed and in some cases had been promoted.[47] Congressional dissatisfaction with the situation and the EPA's treatment of Coleman-Adebayo led to passage of theNo-FEAR Act in 2002, which prohibits federal managers and supervisors from engaging in unlawful discrimination and retaliation.[48]
In the final days of the Clinton administration,D.C. District JudgeRoyce C. Lamberth ordered the EPA to preserve under theFreedom of Information Act all documents possibly relevant to last-minute EPA regulation issuances.[50] In 2003, Lamberth found the EPA in contempt for not having preserved Browner's files, but did not find Browner or other officials in contempt.[50] Browner had said that she had not been aware of the court order and that the computer material she had removed was not work-related.[50]
During her EPA tenure, Browner became unpopular with a number of industry groups, especially utilities and heavy manufacturing, as well as withconservatives in Congress, who thought businesses were stifled by her policies.[17][26][51] She also battled theTreasury Department at times, and sometimes opposed Clinton himself, who tended to give priority to economic growth over environmental considerations.[51] Nonetheless, Browner was the longest-serving administrator in the history of the agency, staying through both terms of the Clinton presidency[52][53] – and in the type of position that often sees turnover every three or four years.[54] Robert W. Collin, author of a 2005 text on the agency, assessed her as "one of the ablest administrators ever to lead the EPA", and wrote that she was "completely fearless in her engagement with controversial environmental issues".[55] Clinton himself later stated that Browner had accumulated a long list of important achievements.[21]
After the Clinton administration, Browner became a founding member of theAlbright Group, a "global strategy group" headed by formerU.S. Secretary of StateMadeleine Albright.[56] As a principal, Browner assisted businesses and other organizations with the challenges of operating internationally, including complying with environmental regulations and climate change.Coca-Cola andMerck & Co. have been among the clients for such international assistance.[17] She also became a founding member and principal ofAlbright Capital Management, an investment advisory company.[3][56] During 2002, she taught classes at the study abroad program of her alma mater, now named theFredric G. Levin College of Law.[57]
Browner is now married to former CongressmanThomas Downey.[1] The marriage, his second, her third,[1] took place on June 21, 2007, inRiverhead, New York.[56] Downey heads a lobbying firm representing clients in the energy industry.[7] In 2006, she and Downey collaborated on behalf ofDubai Ports World, but were unable to persuade SenatorCharles Schumer to their viewpoint during theDubai Ports World controversy.[58]
Browner joined the board of theNational Audubon Society in 2001 and became chair in 2003;[59] her term expired in 2008.[60] She also joined the board of theAlliance for Climate Protection, an organization founded by Gore in 2006.[56] In 2008, she joined the board ofAPX, Inc., which specializes in technology infrastructure for the environmental commodities markets[11] including those forcarbon offsets and theCDM Gold Standard.[61] She was also on the founding board of theCenter for American Progress[62] as well as the boards of theAlliance for Climate Protection and theLeague of Conservation Voters.[11] She left all of these boards in late 2008 when she was named to serve in the Obama administration.[63] Until summer 2008 she was a member ofSocialist International'sCommission for a Sustainable World Society,[63][64][65] although the commission's web site still had her listed as a member in January 2009.[66]
Her income in 2008 was between $1 million and $5 million from lobbying firm Downey McGrath Group, where her husband was a principal.[67] She also reported $450,000 in "member distribution" income, plus retirement and other benefits from the Albright Group.[67]
Browner retained a political voice during her business career, describing theGeorge W. Bush administration as "the worst environmental administration ever".[10] She also stated thatglobal warming is "the greatest challenge ever faced".[17] In the2008 presidential election, she was a strong supporter ofHillary Clinton's bid for the Democratic nomination.[10] After Clinton lost her bid, Browner campaigned forBarack Obama in several battleground states and inLeague of Conservation Voters events.[10]
On November 5, 2008, Browner was named to the advisory board of theObama-Biden Transition Project.[68]
On December 15, 2008, President-electBarack Obama named Browner as Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change.[69] Officially known as the Director of theWhite House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy,[57][70] she acted as a coordinator for environmental, energy, climate, transport and related matters for the federal government.[52] Her position was sometimes informally described as the "Energy Czar" or the "Climate Czar".[7][51][71] (The form "Czarina" was sometimes also used.[65][72]) It did not require Senate confirmation.[63] Her participation on the Commission for a Sustainable World Society drew criticism from some Republican members of Congress,[65] but the Obama transition team said there was nothing wrong with it.[63] In any case, her power and influence relied primarily on persuasion: "I don't have any independent policymaking authority. It's not like when I was at EPA and I could depend on regulation."[51]Browner's deputy assistant wasHeather Zichal,[73] a former legislative director for SenatorJohn Kerry.[74]
The early months of the Obama administration found her working well with the Cabinet members.[51] She was a key negotiator between the administration and automakers in formulating the newUnited States emission standards in May 2009,[70][75] and also was a member of thePresidential Task Force on the Auto Industry that bailed out American automakers.[76] She successfully urged incorporation of tens of billions of dollars for renewable energy programs into theAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.[77][78] She was a central player in negotiation with Congress of theUnited States Carbon Cap and Trade Program, seemingly more so thanU.S. Energy SecretarySteven Chu,[51][75] and continued to stress its importance despite theObama health care plan being the top legislative priority overall.[79] Environmentalists viewed her as a critical liaison to the White House.[80] By September 2009, Republican members of Congress expressed concern that her access to the president had usurped power from other agencies.[75] She also became a brief target of fervent anti-"czar" radio and television commentatorGlenn Beck, following theVan Jones resignation.[71]
In October 2009, Browner conceded that congressional passage of the cap-and-trade legislation before the end of the year was unlikely, and feared its absence would harm prospects for meaningful international agreement at theCopenhagen United Nations Climate Change Conference in December.[81] By the next month, she moderated her concern but expressed opposition to any congressional "slicing and dicing" that would separate energy and climate concerns.[82] Attempts to pass any kind of climate legislation collapsed in July 2010 due to lack of enough votes in the Senate; Browner appeared on behalf of the administration and said, "Obviously, everyone is disappointed that we do not yet have an agreement on comprehensive legislation."[83] At other times she became philosophical, later saying that she would quote the key lines from one ofThe Rolling Stones'most well-known songs to Obama: "You can't always get what you want, but you get what you need."[72]
In 2010, Browner became a key part of the administration team handling, and one of the more visible administration figures in issuing public comments about, theBPDeepwater Horizon oil spill in theGulf of Mexico.[80][84] In late May 2010 she assessed the spill as "probably the biggest environmental disaster we have ever faced in this country" and said that the administration was "prepared for the worst".[85] She added that "I think what the American people need to know that it is possible we will have oil leaking from this well until August, when the relief wells will be finished."[86]Mike Allen ofPolitico later wrote, "[Browner's] calm, authoritative television presence during the BP oil disaster made her one of the few officials whose stature was enhanced in the aftermath of the Gulf catastrophe."[87]
With Republicans taking over the House of Representatives following the2010 midterm elections, chances of climate and energy legislation passing that embodied Browner's and the administration's goals were essentially nil, and Obama conceded as much.[78][80][87] As the Obama administration neared its two-year mark and a number of personnel changes were underway, there was a possibility that Browner might be named to another position with broader responsibilities, such asWhite House Deputy Chief of Staff.[80][88][89] But that did not come to pass.[88]
Instead, in late January 2011, White House officials disclosed that Browner would be leaving her position in the fairly near future.[87] Browner said of her unexpected decision, "[there's] no back story – it was just time to go" and that she felt "honored to have a second ... chance to serve".[80]League of Conservation Voters presidentGene Karpinski characterized Browner as a "tenacious advocate on our issues" who would be "sorely missed", while a member of the law and energy industry lobbying firmBracewell & Giuliani said Browner's exit was a good development and that "Her departure may be part of a legitimate effort to pay careful attention to addressing some of the real regulatory obstacles in the way of job creation in the United States."[80] Browner left the White House in March 2011.[90] Her general responsibilities were taken over by her second-in-command, Heather Zichal, from a position within theU.S. Domestic Policy Council.[90]
In late February 2011, while Browner was still in place, the House voted to eliminate the Director of the Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy position altogether.[91] While the move was part of an overall effort to get rid of Obama's "czars", Browner was a particular focus of it.[92] RepresentativeSteve Scalise, who led the effort, said of Browner, "Let her leave, and take the funding, too."[91] In themid-April 2011 federal spending agreement that averted a possible government shutdown, funding for the position was indeed eliminated (as were three other "czar" roles, most of which were similarly vacant).[93] Obama issued asigning statement protesting the move and saying he would not abide by it, but the point was largely moot as the positions in question, including the Browner one, had already been moved inside the Domestic Policy Council.[94]
Browner rejoined theCenter for American Progress in April 2011 as a Distinguished Senior Fellow and a member of the organization's executive committee.[62][95] She also rejoined the Albright firm, now known due to merger as theAlbright Stonebridge Group, as a Senior Counselor whose responsibilities included providing strategic services to clients in assorted areas of environmental impact.[96][97] She continued to speak publicly on environmental issues and indicated she was "disappointed" by the Obama administration's September 2011 decision to drop toughening of low-altitude ozone levels in theNational Ambient Air Quality Standards.[97]
In July 2013, Browner was named to the board of directors ofBunge Limited, a global agribusiness and food company.[98] In November 2013, she was named to the advisory board ofOpower, a software provider to the utility industry.[99] In January 2014, she joined theGlobal Ocean Commission, an initiative to restore oceanic health and productivity,[100] which issued its final report in 2016. In March 2014, she was elected as chair of the board of directors of theLeague of Conservation Voters.[101]
In April 2014 she joined the Leadership Council of Nuclear Matters, an industry-backed group that advocates for nuclear power as a means tocombat climate change.[102][103] In that role, she said, "We can't take a carbon-free source of energy off the table."[103] She has acknowledged that looking at herself twenty years earlier, she would "probably not be pro-nuclear", but said, "I think climate change is the biggest problem the world has ever faced" and it would simply be "irresponsible" not to consider nuclear energy as part of the solution.[104]
After a different administration had been in power for a year, Browner was one of several former EPA heads who expressed alarm at the effects that new headScott Pruitt had had upon the agency. She said that while the George W. Bush administration had treated the EPA with a "sort of benign neglect", in contrast, "Under Pruitt, what they're doing is conscientiously tearing the place down." She was especially concerned that reversing budget cuts would be difficult and that a successful full repeal of the second-term Obama administration'sClean Power Plan could set back an effort to resume combating human-caused global warming some "20 to 30 years".[105] She did not think that the replacing of Pruitt withAndrew R. Wheeler made anything better; overall, she said the actions of this administration were "worse than disappointing. I mean, it is stunning and very alarming."[72]
By 2019, Browner had joined the electric scooter companyLime as a sustainability adviser.[72] She said of her role there, "So we are looking at, how do we make sure that a carbon reduction plan includes micro-mobility? How do we understand what it means to get people out of a car for the last couple of miles?"[72] In reference to theGreen New Deal proposal of early 2019, Browner said, "The science is clear: Time is not our friend here. So I have to say I'm as excited about this as I have been about anything in the environmental space in a long time."[106]
Browner joined the law firm ofCovington & Burling in September 2021, in the position of Senior Of Counsel in the firm's Environmental, Social, and Governance Practice, as part of a trend ofESG-related concerns becoming important to corporate clients.[107]
In April 1997, Browner received the Outstanding Mother of the Year Award from the National Mother's Day Committee "for her dedication to providing 'children with a safer, healthier world.'".[7][108] In September 1997 Browner was honored as one of the 47 Distinguished Alumnae ofUniversity of Florida.[109] Browner also has receivedGlamour magazine'sWoman of the Year Award, the Ambulatory Pediatric Association's Advocate for Children Award, the South Florida Chapter of the Audubon Society's Guy M. Bradley Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Lifetime Environmental Achievement Award from theNew York State Bar Association.[9][31] In 1998 she received Vice President Gore'sHammer Award for helping to make government cost less and work better.[110] In 2000, she received theAmerican Lung Association's President's Award for leadership towards "the toughest action in a generation to safeguard public health from the threats posed by air pollution."[31]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 1993–2001 | Succeeded by |
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