All Articles Tagged "lisa jackson"
In Our Own Backyard: Nine African-American Environmentalists Who Changed Our Community’s Landscape
African Americans are at the forefront of today’s environmental issue, actively seeking ways to improve and break ground (literally). And not all environmentalists are tree-hugging, burlap-wearing hippies.
Whether it’s through the African-American Environmentalist Association that aims to educate the Black community on the issues of the environment today or through community service in our own backyards, African Americans have been giving their time, talent and legacies in order to close the racial divide in environmental activism.
We recognize these nine African-American environmentalists for their contributions to the health of our community and Earth as a whole.
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African-American Environmentalist Association, African-American Heritage Collection, agriculture, Blair Bedford, clean, Dr. Shemuel B. Israel, earth day, energy bill, environment, Environmental Protection Agency, George Washington Carver, Global Warming Treaty, going green, green for all, Green Jobs Act, Green Worker Cooperatives, health, jerome ringo, lisa jackson, Madame Noire Business, Michael Twitty, National Wildlife Federation, Norris McDonald, North Lawndale Greening Committee, Omar Freilla, Stephen Bishop, van jones, worldEnvironmental Protection Agency Head Resigns
Rex Features via AP Images
Lisa Jackson, the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator for the Obama administration, has announced her resignation, effective next month. Jackson is credited with getting new air pollution limits on the books, the most drastic in 20 years, in fact, according to The Washington Post.
During her four years, Jackson made no friends with Republicans and the coal industry, two groups that objected to her efforts to lower pollution from power plants, limit soot, spoke out against climate change and on behalf of lower income communities that are negatively affected by environmental degradation.
It’s unclear what she’ll do once she officially steps down, though there’s talk of her returning to New Jersey and becoming the president of Princeton University or possibly working as a consultant.
Equally unclear is the direction that the EPA will take when she’s no longer leading it. There are still energy issues, like those with coal, that the administration and Congress have to negotiate. While there had been momentum behind some of the big changes the EPA and Jackson supported, that momentum has slowed.
Two existing EPA officials — Bob Perciasepe and Gina McCarthy — are some of the possible replacements. Mr. Perciasepe will act as interim administrator.
EPA Head Contemplates Quitting, Decides to Stay
By Charlotte Young
When Lisa Jackson, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator learned that President Barack Obama had rejected her major proposal for stricter air-pollution regulations, she was very upset. So upset, the New York Post reports, that she almost quit her job.
According to the Post, Jackson had been confident that Obama planned to support her proposal, regardless of the persistent Republican lobbyists and business interests that rallied against it. Turns out she was wrong. On Sept. 1, after meeting with Chief of Staff Bill Daley and then with Obama, she realized her plan would have to wait.
Obama firmly rejected her proposal, which would have limited the amount of ozone that is released into the air. An administrative source disclosed that Obama informed Jackson that “we just don’t need this fight right now.”
With the US in the midst of a weak economy and incessantly low employment numbers, Obama believed that making her changes to the Clean Air Act would be too troublesome and costly for businesses and local governments who would have to monitor and contain air pollution.
Longtime friend of Jackson and senior Sierra Club official, Jeff Tittel, told the Post that Jackson, “felt like she got hit with a hot poker between the eyes.”
“Lisa was blindsided,” he said. “She was pretty pissed off.”
Jackson reportedly then spent two days contemplating whether or not to quit her job. But after traveling with Obama to view hurricane damage on Sept. 4, she had calmed down and decided to stay on board the Obama administration.
“She’s not the kind of person who goes home and takes her marbles.” Tittel said. “She’s the kind who would stay and fight even if she is frustrated.”
Jackson is the first African American to serve as the head of the EPA. Not only has she pushed for added ozone regulations, in her role she has made sure to reach out to communities that have been historically under-represented in environmental issues. Under her leadership the EPA has increased its protection of vulnerable groups, which include children, the elderly and low-income residents, that are often faced with environmental and health concerns that go unnoticed.
The White House plans to review the proposal on emissions again in 2012. Brendon Gilfillan, a spokesman from the EPA told the Post that Jackson isn’t going anywhere. “This administration has a tremendous record on the environment and a lot more work left to do,” he said.
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air, environment, EPA, lisa jackson, lisa jackson epa, politics, pollution, President Obama, proposal11 Black Women To Know In Obama’s Cabinet
The saying goes behind every great man there’s a great woman–or in President Obama’s case, great women. His administration is said to be a marker of how black women have transitioned from being outsiders to gatekeepers in Washington. A number of these powerful women are the first African-American women in their respective positions, such as head of the Domestic Policy Council, the Environmental Protection Agency and the the Food and Drug Administration. So whether its advising the president on economic policy, health care and national security, or assisting the First Lady and Vice President with their affairs, these 11 women are a part of an elite group who are responsible for the everyday operations of the White House:
Cecilia E. Rouse
Member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers
As a member of the White House CEA, Rouse works on issues including employment, education, housing, the budget and the economics of workplace flexibility. A former Princeton University professor, she is one of three economics who gives President Obama economic analysis and advice.
‘The EPA is Not the Villain’
(Newsweek) — On Jan. 1, the Environmental Protection Agency is set to phase in regulations on air and water pollutants, including sulfur oxides, ozone, and, most controversial of all, carbon dioxide. House Republicans have vowed to thwart the EPA at every turn. But Lisa Jackson, the agency’s administrator, says she won’t be deterred. She sat down with NEWSWEEK’s Daniel Stone. Excerpts:
People have said you run, and I’m quoting, a “runaway agency,” with a staff that’s “out of control,” and have called you a “renegade.” What’s your response? I think we need to separate what we’re doing from what we hear lobbyists and CEOs say we’re doing. We laid out three ideas: we would follow the law, and we would follow science, and we would operate transparently. When I hear “renegade,” it sounds like we’re operating outside of the system. But this is the system. The system is designed to make sure our land and water and air are protected.
EPA’s Jackson on National Environmental Justice Tour
(San Jose Mercury News) — The head of the Environmental Protection Agency spent Saturday in Oakland, visiting seven sites including the notorious AMCO SuperFund site in West Oakland — considered one of the most toxic in the nation — and learning about a residential lead cleanup program set to begin in surrounding neighborhoods.”This SuperFund site is in a community of people who care enough about the environment and about other communities that they don’t want contaminated soil excavated and just taken to another SuperFund site in another community of color,” said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson during a news conference at Oakland’s federal building after the daylong tour.
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