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Administrator Lisa P. Jackson
Yesterday President Barack Obama stopped by EPA headquarters to deliver a message to the agency. His remarks were webcast to regional offices throughout the country, allowing the president to remind every EPA employee that “your mission is vital” and “you’ve got a President who is grateful for your work and will stand with you every inch of the way.”
You can watch President Obama’s full remarks and read the transcript below:
U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson at the official Mercury and Air Toxics Standards Announcement Event at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC
From historic efforts to cut pollution from American automobiles to strong measures to prevent power plant pollution from crossing state lines, 2011 was already a banner year for clean air and the health of the American people. And the EPA is closing out the year with our biggest clean air protection yet.
Last week, we finalized the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, or MATS, a rule that will protect millions of families and, especially, children from air pollution. Before this rule, there were no national standards that limited the amount of mercury, arsenic, chromium, nickel and acid gases power plants across the country could release into the air we breathe. Mercury is a neurotoxin that is particularly harmful to children, and emissions of mercury and other air toxics have been linked to damage to developing nervous systems, respiratory illnesses and other diseases. MATS will require power plants to install emissions controls that will also reduce particle pollution, which has been linked to premature death and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Continue reading in Greenversations
by Seth Oster
You may have seen some coverage of a speech Administrator Jackson made the other day at Howard University. If you have, you have probably seen some people reacting strongly to something they claim the Administrator said. The only problem is, she never said it.
How could someone react to something that was never said? Read Ken Ward’s blog at the Charleston Gazette to read what actually happened, and to experience a genuine “only in Washington” moment.
Seth Oster is the Associate Administrator for External Affairs and Environmental Education at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
In today’s LA Times, Administrator Jackson wrote about efforts in the House of Representatives to undermine critical health and environmental protections. In the op-ed “Too Dirty to Fail?” she says it is time once again for Americans to stand up for their right to clean air and clean water.
“Since the beginning of this year, Republicans in the House have averaged roughly a vote every day the chamber has been in session to undermine the Environmental Protection Agency and our nation’s environmental laws,” wrote Administrator Jackson.
In recent weeks, House Republicans using the economy as cover have accelerated efforts to give big polluters a pass from complying with health protections and to expose our communities to dangerous pollution. The “Too Dirty to Fail” strategy uses today’s economic challenges as an excuse for removing vital health protections and entering our nation into what President Obama calls “a race to the bottom” for the weakest environmental protections.
“How we respond to this assault on our environmental and public health protections will mean the difference between sickness and health — in some cases, life and death — for hundreds of thousands of citizens,” the Administrator wrote in the piece.
