Lisa Jackson, EPA Head, Says Environmental Protection Agency is “Back On the Job”

In a keynote presentation kicking off the 2009 Aspen Environmental Forum, Lisa Jackson, the new head of the US Environmental Protection Agency, told the audience “The EPA is back on the job for the American people.” The idea implied in that statement is that the EPA has not been on the job for some time now, and that the tide has shifted in favor of the American public, which is encouraging.

Jackson’s speech on Wednesday was full of hope, big ideas, and an acknowledgement that we are at a critical point in time.

“There is not a moment to lose… We have passed the tipping point.”

Jackson stressed the fact that “we have some hard work to do” and that the state of our environment is a real threat to economic stability and security. “There will be no distant day of reckoning” because the time is now. The EPA was immediately beginning an aggressive “environmental agenda”, Jackson said.

In her address to hundreds of scientists, activists, and industry leaders, Jackson confirmed that shifting the US to a renewable fuels economy could potentially solve many problems that affect the American people.

The EPA now controls the largest budget in its 39 year history, and Jackson’s remarks restated the promise to review California’s auto emissions waiver and implement a national greenhouse gas emission reporting system without hurting small businesses. She also made a point of the need to monitor toxic air and pollution in and around our schools.

One key point that stuck out for me was Jackson’s assertion that we must not position the environment in the way of economic recovery.  She said that economic recovery and progress toward environmental goals are not at odds with each other and making progress on both issues was now “inextricably linked.” A “clean energy economy” in the US would be a “three-fer” that could help with employment opportunities, provide security for the country, and clean up the environment at the same time.

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