“Science must be the backbone of what EPA does,” Jackson said in her prepared statement before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. “If I am confirmed, I will administer with science as my guide.”
President-elect Barack Obama nominated Jackson to the post in December. If confirmed, she will be the first African-American to hold the position.
“I understand the laws leave room for policymakers to make policy judgments,” she noted. “But if I am confirmed, political appointees will not compromise the integrity of EPA’s technical experts to advance particular regulatory outcomes.”
Jackson did not affirm her stance on whether and how the agency would regulate carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act, which grants the EPA the authority to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases under a 2007 Supreme Court ruling.
Several Republicans on the committee expressed concern that Jackson would pursue excessively regulatory policies. Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) warned that utilizing the Clean Air Act to address climate change is a “disaster waiting to happen” because of its potential economic effect on “ranchers and miners in Wyoming.”
Other Republicans at Jackson’s hearing criticized Obama’s preference for a cap-and-trade system. Under this policy, companies are granted emission permits and may buy more credits from other companies to increase their emission allowance.
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), citing Al Gore, argued that a tax on carbon would more effectively reduce carbon emissions than a cap-and-trade system.
Jackson said she would consult with the president-elect and stood by her support for cap-and-trade.
Jackson enjoys strong support from Gov. Jon Corzine (D-N.J.), as well as Jeff Tittel, the director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club, and Dena Mottola, who serves as executive director of Environment New Jersey.
To D.C. from N.J.
Jackson currently co-chairs Obama’s transition team on energy and natural resources. In 2006, Corzine appointed her commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
As the head of environmental policy in New Jersey, she oversaw the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act, the Global Warming Response Act and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, among other programs.
On Dec. 1, Corzine named Jackson his chief of staff. She became the first American-American to serve as any New Jersey governor’s chief of staff.
Prior to her work in New Jersey, Jackson spent 16 years working for the EPA in Washington, D.C., and New York.
Former New Jersey governor Christie Whitman, who served as EPA administrator from 2001 to 2003 before resigning over disagreements with President Bush, told MSNBC in December that Jackson “brings credibility from the environmental community to the agency.”
Jackson would be the third Princetonian to lead the agency, after Russell Train ’41 and William Ruckelshaus ’55.
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