Joe Biden has selected the former Clinton campaign manager John Podesta as White House senior advisor to the President for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation.
Podesta will oversee the implementation of $370 billion worth of the climate change provisions included in the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed in August.
The scandal-plagued Democrat operative will also “chair the President’s National Climate Task Force in support of this effort,” the White House said in a statement.
“We are fortunate that John Podesta will lead our continued innovation and implementation,” Biden said in a statement. “His deep roots in climate and clean energy policy and his experience at senior levels of government mean we can truly hit the ground running to take advantage of the massive clean energy opportunity in front of us.”
Podesta is currently chair of the board of directors for the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank he founded in 2003.
Hillary Clinton’s former campaign manager also served as chief of staff to former President Clinton and was top climate advisor to President Obama.
In an interview with the New York Times, Podesta said he intends to focus on transforming America away from oil and fossil fuels.
“The transformation of the energy economy is going to be the biggest thing economically that is happening in this country,” he said, promising to work to create “a future that is not blighted by the threat of climate change.”
Podesta continues to be plagued by rumors over alleged involvement in “pizza gate” following the leak of DNC and Clinton campaign emails that were published by the whistleblower organization WikiLeaks in 2016.
The series of emails revealed that high-ranking Podesta, DNC officials and the Clinton team sabotaged Sanders’ candidacy, used racist, anti-gay and sexist slurs when referring to constituents.
https://twitter.com/ClimateEnvoy/status/1565782697380814851?s=20&t=oQYSS3UfZmMCYI8ggYpLog
The White House also announced Friday that Biden’s top domestic climate aide, Gina McCarthy will depart and be replaced by her deputy Ali Zaidi.
Zaidi, previously worked in the Energy Department under the Obama administration.
McCarthy, who previously led the Environmental Protection Agency under the Obama administration, will leave her post on September 16.
