Margo T. Oge

Born in Athens, Greece,{{cite web |date=May 18, 2015 |title=Alum Helps Clean the Air We Breathe |url=https://www.uml.edu/news/stories/2015/margo-oge-epa.aspx |publisher=UMass Lowell |access-date=May 5, 2025}} Oge studied in the United States and received a master's degree in engineering from the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

Oge began working at the EPA in 1980 in the Office of Toxic Chemicals. In 1986, she was assigned to the office of Rhode Island Senator John Chafee, where she helped draft legislation requiring plastic six-pack rings to be biodegradable. In 1990, she became the director of the EPA's Office of Indoor Air and Radiation. In 1993, her office released a report finding that secondhand smoke posed a public health risk.{{Cite web |title=Setting the Record Straight |url=https://www.epa.gov/smokefree/pubs/strsfs.html |website=EPA |access-date=May 5, 2025}} The report was delayed due to legal challenges by the tobacco industry but was upheld by the courts in 2002.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/23/us/tobacco-groups-sue-to-void-rule-on-danger-in-secondhand-smoke.html |title=Tobacco Groups Sue to Void Rule on Danger in Secondhand Smoke |work=The New York Times |date=June 23, 1993 |access-date=May 5, 2025}}

In 1994, Oge became director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality. Her office issued multiple regulations reducing emissions from heavy-duty trucks, buses, locomotives, marine vessels, and off-road equipment.{{Cite web |title=Milestones in Mobile Source Air Pollution Control |url=https://www.epa.gov/transportation-air-pollution-and-climate-change/milestones-mobile-source-air-pollution-control |website=EPA |access-date=May 5, 2025}} The EPA estimates these programs prevent over 40,000 premature deaths annually. Her office also implemented the Renewable Fuel Standard.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

In 2009, Oge’s office, alongside the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and California officials, began developing new vehicle emissions and fuel economy standards. These efforts culminated in the [https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-and-nhtsa-finalize-historic-national-program-reduce-greenhouse-gases-and-improve 2010 national program],{{cite web |date=April 1, 2010 |title=EPA and NHTSA Finalize Historic National Program to Reduce Greenhouse Gases and Improve Fuel Economy |url=https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-and-nhtsa-finalize-historic-national-program-reduce-greenhouse-gases-and-improve |publisher=EPA |access-date=May 5, 2025}} the first federal regulation targeting greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.

In 2011, she led EPA’s development of the first greenhouse gas and fuel efficiency rules for medium- and heavy-duty trucks for model years 2014–2018.{{cite web |title=EPA and NHTSA Adopt First-Ever Program to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Improve Fuel Efficiency |url=https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-and-nhtsa-adopt-first-ever-program-reduce-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-improve-fuel |publisher=EPA |access-date=May 5, 2025}}

In 2012, the program was extended through 2025, requiring automakers to reach a fleet-wide average of 54.5 mpg and halve greenhouse gas emissions from 2010 levels.{{Cite web |title=Regulations and Standards: Light-Duty Vehicles |url=https://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and-engines/regulations-and-standards-light-duty-vehicles |website=EPA |access-date=May 5, 2025}} The Economist ranked the rules among the world's most effective climate measures in 2014.{{Cite news |title=The deepest cuts |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21618680-our-guide-actions-have-done-most-slow-global-warming-deepest-cuts |date=September 20, 2014 |access-date=May 5, 2025}}

Oge retired in 2012 and now serves as Chair Emeritus of the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT).{{cite web |title=Margo Oge |url=https://theicct.org/team-member/margo-oge/ |publisher=ICCT |access-date=May 5, 2025}} She is a board member of the Union of Concerned Scientists and a Distinguished Fellow at the ClimateWorks Foundation.{{cite web |title=Margo Oge – UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies |url=https://its.ucdavis.edu/people/margo-oge/ |publisher=UC Davis |access-date=May 5, 2025}} Oge also advises the Climate Imperative Foundation and Deloitte Center for Sustainability Progress.

She previously served on the [https://www.volkswagen-group.com/en/sustainability-council-16017 Volkswagen Sustainability Council] and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s [https://www.nationalacademies.org/bees/board-on-energy-and-environmental-systems Board on Energy and Environmental Systems].

In 2015, Arcade Publishing released her book, Driving the Future: Combating Climate Change with Cleaner, Smarter Cars.{{cite book |last=Oge |first=Margo T. |title=Driving the Future: Combating Climate Change with Cleaner, Smarter Cars |publisher=Arcade Publishing |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-62872-538-4}}

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Category:1949 births

Category:Living people