New EPA chief Lisa Jackson. (AP Photo)
The new head of the Environmental Protection Agency promised Friday to rebuild trust and respect for the EPA while combating climate change in a manner fair to low-income and minority communities.
“I understand that trust—especially for the EPA these days—is hard earned,” EPA Chief Lisa P. Jackson told more than 400 people crowding the auditorium at Fordham University Law School in Manhattan.
“I hope that when we’re done, we won’t be operating simply from a position of trust, but one of respect.”
Jackson was the keynote speaker at Advancing Climate Justice, a conference sponsored by the New York environmental group WE ACT to bring attention to the disproportionate impact of climate change on minority and low-income people. It was Jackson's first public appearance since the Senate confirmed her appointment Jan. 22.
"I wanted this to be my first appearance because I’m an African-American woman and an environmentalist and we have similar backgrounds,” Jackson told The New York Times.
Jackson grew up in New Orleans's Ninth Ward and served as the head of New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection, then as New Jersey Gov. John Corzine's chief of staff, before President Barack Obama selected her for the cabinet-level post at EPA.
Some environmentalists criticized Jackson for being too soft on industry in New Jersey, and the EPA itself criticized her agency for failing to act quickly to clean up toxic sites, but she passed through her Senate confirmation without opposition. A Princeton graduate and former chemical engineer, Jackson vowed that science, not politics, would guide the EPA's approach to climate change.
Special Report: Obama's First 100 DaysExclusive examiner.com coverage of the Obama administration's promise to bring about change.
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