Browner is the oldest of three daughters born to Michael Browner and Isabella Harty-Hugues, both academicians whose respect for education undoubtedly had a strong influence on their three daughters. The Browners limited their daughters' television viewing time and encouraged them, instead, to read and pursue their interests. Browner was born and raised in Florida and her love of the state's natural beauty certainly played into her strong environmentalist attitudes. Her sister, Michelle, the middle Browner daughter, is a biochemist at the University of California at San Francisco. The third and youngest of the Browner sisters, Stephanie, is completing her doctoral studies at the University of Indiana in American literature.
Education
Browner received both her undergraduate degree in English and her law degree from the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Career
In 1980 and 1981, Browner served as chief adviser to the State Operations Committee in the Florida House of Representatives. There she helped revise the program of conserving Florida's recreational lands. In 1983, she moved to Washington, where she worked as deputy director of the activist group Citizen Action, an organization dealing with environmental issues.
Between 1986 and 1988, Browner served as chief legislative assistant to Democratic Party senator Lawton Chiles of Florida. In this role, she led complex negotiations on the expansion of the territory of the National Wildlife Refuge "Big Cypress", and the introduction of a ban on offshore drilling near the archipelago of Florida Keys. In 1989, Browner received the position of legal advisor to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. She did not object to the investigations "in the field", and even when she was pregnant, she dived into the coastal waters for the necessary research.
From 1988 to 1991, Browner worked as a legislative adviser to Senator Albert Gore, and became his most famous protégé. She helped prepare the amendments to the Clean Air Act and later headed the legislative headquarters of Horus. After working in the House of Representatives of Florida, Carol Browner was invited to work in the Washington Liberal Activist Group Citizen Action. Soon she becomes legislative advisor to Senators Lawton Chiles and Al Gore. From 1991 to 1993, Browner headed the Department of Environmental Regulation of Florida, which under her leadership became one of the most active departments of the state. Browner introduced the Common Sense Initiative in 1994. The initiative updates the old method of regulating the environment-dealing with air, water, and land pollution separately-to an industry-by industry approach. Browner, President Clinton, and Vice President Gore announced a package of 25 reforms to streamline environmental regulation in March 1995. An issue of paramount importance waiting for Browner when she stepped into her new position as EPA chief was that of toxic-waste disposal. She also issued the Chemical Manufacturing Rule, which aims to cut smog-producing chemicals by 1 million tons per year. As Florida's secretary of Environmental Regulations, Browner had a solid foundation from which to approach her new post as chief of the Environmental Protection Agency. While in Florida, Browner managed the country's third-largest state environmental agency with a budget of $650 million and a staff of 1, 500 employees. From 1993 to 2001, Browner headed the US Environmental Protection Agency. For two terms of office, she reorganized the agency's structure and operating procedures and oversaw two new environmental programs as an alternative to traditional environmental rules and regulations aimed at establishing flexible partnerships with industrial enterprises on environmental issues. Also, Browner advocated tightening urban air quality standards, which led to lengthy discussions in Congress. In 2001, Carol Browner, together with former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, became a co-founded the consulting company Albright Stonebridge Group. She also served on the board of directors of several environmental committees. Under the administration of Barack Obama, the politician received the nickname "Queen of the Climate". Throughout 2010, Browner was a federal commission to investigate the causes of the accident at the Deepwater Horizon oil platform.
Focus on Prevention Browner is being called one of a new breed of environmentalists because she believes that there can and should be a balance between environmental protection and economic development. She feels that the EPA, in the past, has not brought issues to conclusion quickly enough for businesses to act upon them. Browner made her point as stated by Max Gates in Automotive News when she said, "No one can tell me that Hawaii and Maine should have the same rules in all cases. " Browner had a formidable task facing her as the new EPA chief, but she also had the support of the Clinton administration. During the presidential campaign, Clinton, along with vice-presidential candidate Al Gore-a noted environmentalist and author of best seller Earth in the Balance-promised to make the environment a priority during their administration.
Quotations:
"The way we guarantee safe drinking water is broken and needs to be fixed. "
"A food waste reduction hierarchy-feeding people first, then animals, then recycling, then composting-serves to show how productive use can be made of much of the excess food that is currently contributing to leachate and methane formation in landfills. "
"Americans deserve both clean air and clean water and never one at the expense of the other. "
"The sooner the US puts a cap on our dangerous carbon pollution, the sooner we can create a new generation of clean energy jobs here in America. .. "
"There could be oil coming up until August. "
"Although the United States has made tremendous progress cleaning up its water by removing billions of pounds of pollutants and doubling the number of waterways safe for fishing and swimming, a majority of Americans live within 10 miles of a polluted lake, river, stream or coastal area. "
"Our actions today will protect children from the adverse effects of exposure to pesticides commonly used on foods. The agency also is on schedule to meet all deadlines for ensuring safer pesticides use under the new Food Quality Protection Act. "
"Choosing the most fuel-efficient vehicles within a class can save drivers at least $1, 500 in fuel costs and avoid more than 15 tons of greenhouse gas pollution over the life of the vehicle, as well as help reduce dependence on foreign oil. "
"This is probably the biggest environmental disaster we have ever faced in this country. It is certainly the biggest oil spill and we are responding with the biggest environmental response. "
"Eventually, we can get to a system where an electric company will be able to hold back some of the power so that maybe your air conditioner won't operate at its peak. .. "
"Poor communities, frequently communities of color but not exclusively, suffer disproportionately. If you look at where our industrialized facilities tend to be located, they're not in the upper middle class neighborhoods. "
Personality
Growing up in the 1950 and '60, Browner spent many hours hiking around the Everglades searching out the many species that inhabited the area. It is even said that she once missed school so that she could stay home and finish a watercolor painting of a rare water fowl that landed in a pond near her home. Carol Browner's family feels that her position with the EPA not only allows her to continue to marvel at the natural world she loves but to have a profound and lasting impact on its future. Her experience in Florida had proven that the regulatory burdens on business could be eased without compromising the environment. Browner has been credited by both environmentalists as well as the Florida business community for being fair, knowledgeable, intelligent, and balanced in her approach to the environment and economics. During her tenure as secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Regulations, Browner drew both criticism and accolades from environmentalists, agriculturalists, and the business community. Browner's role as a strong negotiator and as an environmental visionary won her much respect in two specific cases in which she was involved while she served as Florida's secretary of Environmental Regulations. Browner was the chief negotiator for the state of Florida in a suit filed by the Federal Government to restore the Everglades by purifying and restoring the natural water flow to Everglades National Park. She is credited with revitalizing the department's demoralized workforce and making the agency one of the most active in the state. To date, Browner is the youngest administrator ever to serve with the EPA and only the second woman to hold the top post. As head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Browner oversees 17, 000 individuals and is responsible for a budget of $7 billion. It has been said that she listens well, is a strong negotiator, and will compromise when necessary. Similar qualities have been attributed to her boss, Bill Clinton. And like President Clinton, she has opponents and critics on all sides. Browner is a very organized individual both in her professional career and in her personal life, but she also has a lighter side to her personality, according to her father Michael Browner-a side that the public may never see. He laughingly recalls a time when he and other members of the family were invited to a party at Carol's new house shortly after she and Michael Podhorzer were married. Upon their arrival, and much to their surprise, they were all handed paint brushes. They painted all day and all night according to Mr. Browner. Carol Browner bikes, skis, and jogs. The jogging is done mostly on a treadmill now because Browner usually arrives home after dark. The family is very active. Five days after her son Zachary was born, the family, including baby, went cross-country skiing. Browner says it was just a short trip and she doesn't want people to get the idea that she's superhuman, but she loves spending time with her family. Family is important to Browner and her husband Michael. Spending time with them continues to be a priority with Browner, even though it requires careful planning, since her position as EPA chief exacts more of her time and energy. Browner is also very proud of the fact that she and husband Podhorzer, have never employed a housekeeper or a nanny for Zachary.
Connections
She met her first husband while both were working for the nonprofit advocacy Citizen Action group and whom she married in 1987. The couple had one son, Zachary. In 2007, Browner married Thomas Downey, a former congressman and head of a lobbying firm representing clients in the energy industry. This marriage, for her the second, and for him the third, was concluded on June 21, 2007 in Riverhead, New York.