Governor Dannel P. Malloy today announced that he is appointing Gina McCarthy to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Green Bank.

McCarthy most recently served as Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President Barack Obama. Previously, she served as Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (now known as the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection) under Governor M. Jodi Rell. During her extensive career, McCarthy has worked at both the state and local levels on critical environmental issues and helped coordinate policies on economic growth, energy, transportation, and the environment.

“As the Connecticut Green Bank demonstrates how mobilizing private investment into our clean energy economy can reduce the energy burden on households and businesses while creating jobs in our communities, it is imperative that these investments also improve public health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Governor Malloy said. “Gina McCarthy will be a fantastic advocate for advancing these causes. She has dedicated her career towards advocating for the very issues that the Connecticut Green Bank seeks to accomplish, and we are thrilled to have her expertise back in Connecticut serving the people of our state.”

The Connecticut Green Bank is a quasi-public authority created through legislation Governor Malloy signed in 2011 with the mission of accelerating deployment of clean energy by using limited public dollars to attract private capital investment in clean energy products. In doing so, the organization helps the state in encouraging the creation of new jobs in the clean energy sector, promoting economic prosperity and energy security, and addressing climate change. As the nation’s first full-scale green bank, the organization partners with private-sector investors to create low-cost, long-term, sustainable financing to implement green energy measures in the residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, and infrastructure sectors.

“I look forward to reuniting with my colleagues in Connecticut and representing Governor Malloy on the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Green Bank,” McCarthy said. “There is no greater imperative at this time than mobilizing more private investment in clean energy deployment in communities throughout Connecticut and across this country to combat global climate change. I am discovering that there is a need and urgency for more green banks in cities, counties, and states across the nation.”

“Gina McCarthy is a great choice and I welcome her experienced voice on the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Green Bank,” Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Catherine Smith, who also serves as Chairwoman of the Connecticut Green Bank’s Board of Directors, said. “Gina has been a tireless champion fighting against climate change and creating green jobs here and on a national level from Washington, D.C. Now she returns to the state to build on her work in helping the Green Bank make green energy accessible and affordable as we continue to tackle the impact of climate change and work to expand our green economy.”

McCarthy received a Bachelor of Arts in Social Anthropology from the University of Massachusetts at Boston and a joint Master of Science in Environmental Health Engineering and Planning and Policy from Tufts University.

Additional information about the Connecticut Green Bank can be found online by visiting www.ctgreenbank.com.