Obama’s EPA Pick Lisa Jackson Supports California Emission Standards

President-elect Barack Obama’s EPA choice — Lisa P. Jackson — will lead the agency by the virtues of science and law, rather than political agendas. Uh, finally!

If that alone wasn’t enough to make me want to have her babies, she’s been quoted for calling Bush’s EPA the “Emissions Permissions Agency!” Uh, marry me now! Seriously.

Jackson served as the Commissioner for the Department of Environmental Protection for the state of New Jersey for about two years, and is currently the state’s Chief of Staff. Though her rule has come under fire.

According to an interview at Grist, “The split seems to be between those who work on energy and climate policy in the state’s capital [who were supportive of Jackson] and those who work on toxic cleanups at the local level [who were critical of her].”

But during Jackson’s Senate confirmation hearing she went on to say, “Political appointees will not compromise the integrity of the EPA’s technical experts to advance particular regulatory outcomes.” The tone of her hearing focused on how the Bush-run EPA not only sucked, but that it had frequent disregard for scientific findings.

One key point she made had to do with California’s request to set its own pollution standards should be re-reviewed. In December of last year, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson overruled California’s request, stating that permits under the Clean Air Act cannot limit greenhouse gases. In response, California and 16 other states filed suit with the federal government based on the ruling. New Jersey is one of those states.

I do hope that Jackson is much less of a tool than Johnson turned out to be.

Image: © Fintastiqu… | Dreamstime.com

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