Former EPA Administrator Michael Regan delivered an optimistic message on the future of climate action and sustainable, equitable solutions October 28 as part of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs’ Advancing Climate Solutions. Now. initiative, which is geared to mobilize civic engagement on the climate crisis.
Regan served as head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Joe Biden. He is currently a Polis Distinguished Fellow at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, and founder of M4Strategies.
Dean Nisha Botchwey welcomed Regan to the Humphrey School, noting his efforts to make environmental justice a priority while at EPA.
“He led the creation of the nation’s first Office of Environmental Justice and directed historic investments in clean air, water, and climate resilience. His leadership demonstrates that addressing the climate crisis isn’t just about policy, it’s about people, partnership, and persistence,” Botchwey said.
She added that Regan’s appearance reflects the School’s commitment to address pressing policy challenges such as sustainability and climate action, which is central to the School’s Constellations of M(pact) initiative. “This is a hallmark of what we do at the Humphrey School: bringing people together to bridge ideas and impact.”
Michelle Roos, executive director of the Environmental Protection Network, a nonprofit comprised primarily of former EPA leaders, also praised Regan in her introductory remarks. Noting that the two once worked together at EPA, she called Regan a “hero” for his leadership of the agency.
“He led with integrity, empathy, and purpose. He advanced the clean energy transition and made environmental justice a central priority,” she said. Going forward, “we need leadership grounded in practical experience, equity, and science. Michael Regan embodies those qualities.”
Regan: The work continues
In an afternoon discussion with two dozen Humphrey School students, and later in his evening lecture, Regan emphasized the need for collaboration among parties with competing interests—such as politicians, utilities, environmental groups, and industry—to find solutions to environmental challenges. He also said those parties are closer to agreement on many issues in private conversations than they let on in public.
He also expressed great confidence in the next generation of leaders, especially what he described as the “remarkable” students he met during his visit.
“[They] are already leaving their marks on their communities and ready to change the world,” he said. “It’s a catalyst for my own optimism, and a reassurance that our country’s future is absolutely bright. And serving as a reminder to me and to others that every major movement in society has been, and most likely will be led by young people like the students that occupy this university. … And the environmental movement is no different.”
Even though many of the signature climate change and environmental justice initiatives he instituted at the EPA have been defunded by the Trump administration, Regan maintained there’s much reason for optimism.
“Some people think you can make or break an issue like climate change with the stroke of a pen. The truth is, it takes more than that. It takes an inclusive process to make and sustain change. So, once you get past some of the flashy executive orders, the shocking headlines in the press or the provocative social media post, there’s some real work that has to be done to undo all that we did together.”
Even though Regan said it is extremely difficult to see the federal government walking back many climate actions he championed, he pointed out that states and cities are stepping up. Minnesota’s recent passage of a measure to be carbon free in electricity generation by 2040 is a good example.
“That’s a bold target, and it tells the rest of the country that the Midwest isn’t waiting for permission to lead,” he said. “The country is watching. EPA’s work will only succeed when states like Minnesota take the baton and run with it. And that’s exactly what you all are doing. You’ve built strong local capacity, public-private partnerships, empowered communities, and shown what environmental justice looks like when it’s not just a slogan, but a practice.”
Panel discussion
Following his keynote, Regan joined public and private sector experts on stage for a discussion on corporate sustainability and energy policy, moderated by Laura Bishop, senior fellow in environmental policy at the Humphrey School and former commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
The other panelists were Sydnie Lieb, assistant commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Commerce, and Reilly Goodwin, vice president of Water Partnerships and Community Impact at Ecolab. Their discussion touched on several topics, including the impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) on the energy sector. Here’s a summary of their key points, edited for length and clarity.
The growth of AI and the impact of the data centers they require
Michael Regan: Many of these hyperscalers (large cloud computing and data management services such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, etc.) have a lot of potential and a boatload of money. And they want energy. What I’ve learned in some private conversations is they are actually willing to go around the traditional utilities that only want to provide energy through natural gas or fossil fuels. These hyperscalers are saying they’re willing to invest in smaller clean energy companies, if they can gear up quickly. What we’re also starting to see is those clean energy companies are being boxed in by traditional utilities and traditional regulatory constructs. So it's a little bit like the wild, wild west. We need to figure out what are the rules of engagement, and how do we allow for the market to compete but also keep the public interest at the forefront.
Sydnie Lieb: From a commerce perspective, we are focused on the energy impacts of these very large and very rapidly evolving data centers (several have been proposed in Minnesota). Typically, a utility builds out resources over a five-year plan, but these data centers may be coming on in 18 to 24 months. So they’re very quickly outpacing our utility planning process. We are thinking about them as a partner, and we need to make sure that we are slotting them into the regulatory space and forcing them to be good partners on our energy transition. Some of the biggest things we’re thinking about are how they’re affecting our energy transition, in terms of the actual resources that are [needed] to serve their electric needs.
Some large data centers are providing some investments in clean resources, given that their investment risk profile is a little different from a traditional regulated utility. We’re starting to see these investments in partnership with the utility. And these public-private partnerships are really important to take advantage of as we’re starting to see less and less federal funding.
Reilly Goodwin: Data centers and water—what does that look like? Research has shown that up to about 40 percent of data centers are planned in areas that are water stressed or have water scarcity issues. In large part, that’s because energy can be more affordable in those geographies. It really comes down to having the regulatory scheme catch up with the rapid pace in which these hyperscalers are moving.
Some of our data is showing that the newest data centers, with the right mitigation levers, with the right technologies, can actually reduce their water consumption by upwards of 90 percent. So sometimes a new data center isn’t necessarily bad if it’s built in the right ways, with the right partnerships, with the right considerations in place. You’re actually going to do a net positive from what was historically the pull on either the energy or the water resources in the area. So it’s a careful balance, and the partnership piece is really key.
Innovation in the energy space
Lieb: We’re seeing continued excitement around innovation in terms of energy production, driven in part by the challenges right now in the electric sector. There’s the potential for enormous growth in demand, while the timetable for building a gas-burning electric generation plant is five to 10 years, just to get the turbine.
As we’re starting to see buildings get smarter, and people adopt more technologies like smart thermostats, there’s a huge opportunity with computing to have the entire system flex its load (which will spread out energy usage patterns and reduce peak demand), and to have more people engaged in that. Whether you like it or not, we’re going to have to innovate out of this demand crunch. It’s exciting to see people from all different spaces acknowledge that and be interested to move forward with it.
Reilly: Regarding innovation, AI is going to have a positive impact in this area, especially in my role around water. The things that we are going to be able to learn, for example, in leak detection: the amount of water that we lose along pipe systems is significant, especially in older geographies where pipes are old and haven’t had an upgrade for a while. Or when I think about applications in agriculture and water consumption for irrigation. Being able to apply AI to these problems is going to provide a lot of information that we don’t know right now.
Regan: These conversations around innovation in diverse energy production are happening with all of the professionals. Yet, the political rhetoric is "drill baby drill" or "bring back coal." This is a great example of politics versus what’s actually happening on the ground regarding innovation and technology. That’s not Democratic or Republican, that’s what’s happening in the market. And grownups are discussing it.
The state of water infrastructure
Regan: One of the scariest things for me as EPA administrator was understanding the health of our water infrastructure across the country. We have a very, very fragile water system. Many water facilities or water utilities are one storm away from disaster. With the bipartisan infrastructure law, EPA received $60 billion to invest in our water infrastructure to ensure that we’re delivering safe, affordable, clean water (those funds could be dramatically reduced in the next federal budget). There are the physical threats to the infrastructure, from a storm perspective, but there’s also the cybersecurity threat. And these antiquated systems are not prepared for those threats.
We have to have a more resilient and smarter water infrastructure to provide quality safe drinking water, but also to match up with the ideas and the opportunities for data centers and new technologies that will depend on that water.
Reilly: From a corporate perspective, the water/climate nexus is really significant. In an average manufacturing setting, about 75 percent of your energy can go towards just managing water. You heat it, you treat it, you cool it, you pump it, you have to move it around your plant. So when you drive down your water consumption, you drive down your energy use, and you drive down your greenhouse gas emissions and also reduce your costs. This is what Ecolab does. We help people efficiently manage water. That’s not only good business, but it also then has positive impacts on the community around you, and the broader water basin that you are pulling water from.
About the Advancing Climate Solutions. Now. Climate Policy Series
The Advancing Climate Solutions. Now. Climate Policy Series seeks to engage and energize students throughout the University of Minnesota, as well as residents across the state, to become part of the solution to climate change through policy and advocacy.
The Humphrey School developed the series and the Swain Climate Policy Fund to honor retired government, business, community, and University of Minnesota leader Tom Swain. The fund supports efforts to host public lectures featuring world-renowned climate experts and champions, policy-focused student internships and research initiatives, and opportunities for participants to learn how to be more effective climate stewards through both individual and collective action.
