Booker Meets with Brenda Mallory, Nominee to Serve as Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, met virtually with Brenda Mallory who has been nominated to serve as Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Following their meeting, Senator Booker issued the following statement:

“Today, I had the honor of meeting virtually with Brenda Mallory, who has been nominated to serve as Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. In our meeting, we discussed the crisis of climate change, natural resources issues and the important role of the Council in fighting for environmental justice for communities of color, low income communities and indigenous communities. With 20 years of civil service experience and working for both Republican and Democratic administrations, it is clear that Ms. Mallory is more than qualified to serve as Chair to the Council of Environmental Quality, I fully support her nomination and look forward to working with her and the Biden Administration in the years ahead.”

Brenda Mallory currently serves as Director of Regulatory Policy at the Southern Environmental Law Center. An experienced public servant and longtime champion of environmental stewardship, she has been an environmental leader at the intersection of law and policy in the public, private, and non-profit sectors for over 30 years. Prior to her current role, Mallory served as Executive Director and Senior Counsel at the Conservation Litigation Project, where she led efforts to protect public lands and promote scholarship around emerging natural resources issues. Mallory has served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, including as General Counsel on the White House Council on Environmental Quality and as the Principal Deputy General Counsel at the Environmental Protection Agency during the Obama-Biden Administration. She also served as Chair of the Natural Resources Practice Group during her time at the environmental law firm Beveridge & Diamond. With roots in Connecticut, Mallory is a graduate of Yale College and Columbia University School of Law.

Throughout his time in the Senate, Senator Booker has extensively worked on and passed environmental justice legislation. In 2019, Booker re-introduced the Environmental Justice Act that requires federal agencies to mitigate environmental injustices through agency action and strengthens the legal protections of those affected by environmental injustices. Additionally, in 2020, he introduced the Environmental Justice Legacy Pollution Cleanup Act with Congresswoman Debra Haaland (D-NM) that would invest $100 billion to clean up legacy pollution that disproportionately harms low income communities, communities of color, and indigenous communities such as Superfund sites, abandoned coal mines, and lead in drinking water.