Green Options » Lisa Jackson

Sierra Club Applauds and Echoes EPA on Green Diversity

Zachary Shahan — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:30:16 +0000

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson called on minorities to be a bigger part of environmentalism in a speech to the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council on Tuesday. Sierra Club showed their appreciation for the EPA’s remarks and highlighted their own commitment to diversity on the same day. “We applaud Administrator Jackson’s call for the environmental movement to better reflect the diversity of all Americans, and we are proud that Sierra Club has such successful diversity programs already established,” said Sierra Club President Allison Chin.

Sierra Club went on to highlight its own diversity related programs, also pointing out that Allison Chin is the first Asian-American president of the organization.

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EPA Calling for More Diversity in Environmentalism

Zachary Shahan — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:31:37 +0000

In another effort to bridge the sustainability gaps in our society today, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson called for more diversity in environmentalism yesterday. Speaking to the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council, she stated clearly that low-income and minority groups are often hit the hardest by environmental problems. “The place where I grew up is like other places in this country. Places where the burden of pollution and environmental degradation falls disproportionately on low-income and minority communities – and most often, on the children in those communities.”

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Sierra Club Chalks Up 100th Victory in Fight to Stop New Coal-Fired Power Plants

SolveClimate — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:30:06 +0000

Written by Stacy Morford. Originally published on July 9, 2009, at SolveClimate.

This post contains additional media. Click here to view the full post.

In 2001, energy companies across the United States were busy drawing up plans for about 150 new coal-fired power plants. That year, Sierra Club launched its Beyond Coal campaign.

Today, the campaign celebrated its 100th defeat of a proposed coal plant.

“Coal mining is literally blowing the tops of mountains in Appalachia, coal burning is literally heating up our planet, spewing mercury across our landscape, and exposure to coal ash is wreaking havoc on streams and rivers across this country. So in every phase of the lifecycle, coal is filthy business,” Sierra Club campaign director Bruce Nilles said in announcing the milestone.

“We have persuaded the developers, the investors and the decision makers that we can do better than building dirty coal-fired power plants.”

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EPA Grants California Fuel Emissions Waiver Request

Dave Levitan — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:42:24 +0000

The Environmental Protection Agency has granted California’s waiver request that will allow the state to enforce strict greenhouse gas emissions standards on cars beginning with the present model year. California first applied for the waiver in 2005, but was denied several years later. Now, the EPA grants the waiver based on the need for California to improve its air pollution conditions.

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President Obama: $800 Million for Biofuels and Flex-Fuel Vehicles

Joanna Schroeder — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:55:40 +0000

Yesterday was a big day for the biofuels industry. President Obama issued a presidential directive to the USDA to expand access for biofuels that includes $800 million to fuel biofuels research. The purpose of the directive, in part, is to aggressively accelerate the investment and production of biofuels. What the directive does not do, is set dollars aside to help improve the infrastructure for higher ethanol blends including E85 although it encourages production of more flex-fuel vehicles.

This announcement appears to be serious, at least as serious as a government proclamation can really be– they created another committee to oversee that the presidential directive. The USDA, EPA and DOE will form a Biofuels Interagency Working Group with a mission to increase energy independence in part through the development of the nation’s first comprehensive biofuels market development program.

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The Big Picture: Activity on Climate Change is Heating Up

Dave Levitan — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:55:21 +0000

Okay, it’s Earth Day and everything, so maybe I’m imagining things, but it certainly feels like the renewable energy/carbon emissions/let’s-fix-global-warming conversation has picked up steam dramatically in the last couple of weeks. I thought it might be nice to take a step back and review where things stand in Washington and elsewhere.

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Obama to Axe Voluntary Environmental Performance Program

Timothy B. Hurst — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 12:06:13 +0000

Reports have surfaced that the Obama administration will likely terminate the National Environmental Performance Track program as early as this week.

The EPA’s Performance Track program was designed to encourage businesses and governmental offices to move beyond mere compliance of environmental regulation by registering participants to agree to voluntary improvements across 20 environmental category areas. By joining, signers-on hoped to improve their “environmental cred.”

The program was one of several public-private partnerships that became the hallmark of the Bush administration’s environmental policy. This approach to regulation was touted as a move beyond the traditional “command and control” nature of administrative rulemaking to more collaborative and voluntary programs. Such programs have had mixed results.

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Mean Joe Green #41:Obama to Appoint Chu and Jackson to Look After Mother Earth

Joe Mohr — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:26:40 +0000

In a press conference today, Obama will announce the appointment of Lisa Jackson as Head of the EPA and Stephen Chu as Energy Secretary.

After 8 years of cronyism–that lead to the neglect and dismantling of a myriad of environmental protections–it’s going to seem weird to Mother Earth to actually feel protected.

The Time for Denial Is Over: Obama Chooses His Green Team

Reenita Malhotra — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:17:49 +0000

President-elect Obama met with Al Gore and Vice President-elect Joseph Bidenenergy and climate policy — and how addressing those issues can drive the nation’s economic recovery, at the Transition’s Chicago headquarters earlier this wee to discuss

“The time for denial is over, ” President-elect Obama said. “This is a matter of urgency and national security…[but] it is not only a problem, it is also an opportunity. We have the opportunity now to create jobs all across this country in all 50 states to re-power America, to redesign how we use energy and think about how we are increasing efficiency to make our economy stronger, make us more safe, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and make us competitive for decades to come — even as we save the planet.”

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The Most Important Barack Obama Appointee: EPA Administrator Short List

Jennifer Lance — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:52:03 +0000

President-Elect Barack Obama will inherit a host of problems from outgoing President Bush. From an economy in recession to the Iraq War, cleaning up from eight years of the worst US president is a immense task. Obama has already selected many former rivals, such as Hilary Clinton, for his cabinet, but the most important appointee he will make is the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Although the EPA administrator is not a cabinet level position, this may change as Obama faces the crisis of climate change.

Under the Bush administration, the EPA has loss all credibility as an agency that protects Americans from air and water pollution.

According to the Washington Post,

“…over the past eight years, many career employees and rank-and-file scientists have clashed with Bush appointees over a number of those of issues, including whether the federal government should allow California to regulate tailpipe emissions from automobiles…”

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