Lisa Jackson, President-Elect Barack Obama’s pick to lead the US Environmental Protection Agency, delivered a simple message to senators on Wednesday: “If I am confirmed, I will administer with science as my guide.”
And barring a late-breaking controversy, Jackson is virtually certain to be confirmed as early as next week. Her confirmation hearing before the Environment and Public Works Committee went off without a hitch, and despite some isolated opposition, nobody on either side of the aisle questions her qualifications. Trained as a chemical engineer, Jackson served for 15 years at the EPA and recently headed the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
But Jackson’s appointment is perhaps one of the few major points of agreement on this panel. Indeed, the fact that a statement endorsing science would spur much reaction at all is a testament to some very deep and longstanding divisions that will surely make Jackson’s job as administrator of the EPA difficult in the years ahead.
Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, proclaimed Jackson’s endorsement of science and the rule of law “music to my ears.” The ranking Republican on the panel, James Inhofe of Oklahoma, used the same phrase in a very different way. A long-time climate skeptic, Inhofe asked Jackson to read his latest speech on the matter and get back to him.
Democrats hammered on allegations of industry-driven deregulation and political interference, issues that eventually led them to call for the resignation of EPA chief Stephen Johnson last summer. And yet more than one Republican highlighted what a superb job Johnson has done. “Outstanding,” was the word used by Republican George Voinovich of Ohio.
Once they got around to the future, lawmakers also peppered Jackson with various questions about chemical regulations, hazardous waste issues, pesticides and water quality. But their main focus was global warming.
Jackson said she would quickly review California’s request for a Clean Air Act waiver that would allow California and other states to implement greenhouse gas regulations for vehicles. She also promised a prompt decision on carbon dioxide, as required by a 2007 Supreme Court decision clarifying EPA’s authority to regulate the greenhouse gas. She said that finding “will trigger the beginning of regulation of carbon dioxide in this country,” underscoring the incoming administration’s willingness to move forward on its own if Congress fails to act.
Wyoming Senator John Barrasso tried to underscore the hazards of expanding current laws to cover new threats, but Jackson didn’t bite. “The beauty of our environmental laws,” Jackson replied, is that they were designed to address “not only the issue of the day but also, potentially, the issues of tomorrow.”