In response to Obama’s selection of Jackson to head EPA, current EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson said: “Lisa Jackson has a wealth of experience and a solid record of achievement in environmental service. As a former EPA executive, she is uniquely qualified to recognize the challenges facing the agency and lead from day one. This is an exciting time at EPA, and Lisa will direct an agency that is poised to build on the many environmental successes accomplished since 2001.”
Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), also applauded Obama’s choice of Lisa Jackson to lead EPA.
“…Lisa Jackson is exactly what this country and its precious environment needs in an EPA administrator: a practical, smart and dedicated individual who has a track record of moving sound environmental and conservation policies forward that benefit us all,” Schweiger said. “We applaud the new administration's commitment to restoring protections for America's wetlands, streams, and floodplains. This will be of particular importance as global warming continues to impact the resiliency of the natural resources a strong economy depends on.”
On behalf of NWF, Schweiger also commended Obama for choosing Carol Browner lead a new council on climate, environment and energy issues, calling Browner “an outstanding choice who can make up for 8 years of lost opportunity by lending her proven leadership to usher in a new era of climate and energy initiatives.”
In addition, he said Chu’s nomination as energy secretary “shows the White House will no longer be a battleground in the war on science,” and that in choosing Nancy Sutley as the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Obama has selected someone well versed in handling environmental issues on the local, state and national level.
“President-elect Obama’s team knows that the most important thing America can do in 2009 to galvanize investment in clean energy technology is to enact a cap-and-invest plan that reduces global warming pollution and grows clean energy technologies that will recharge our economy,” Schweiger concluded.