In keeping with the theme of this week's BK Communique, I've set my sights on a truly accomplished environmental activist: EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. Let's get to know this potential BK author, shall we?
Born in Philadelphia in 1962, Lisa Jackson graduated summa cum laude from Tulane University with a B.S. in chemical engineering. Jackson then earned an M.S. from Princeton University, also in chemical engineering, before beginning her career with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at its Washington, D.C. headquarters in 1986. During her time at the EPA, Lisa Jackson contributed greatly to the federal Superfund (otherwise known as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act) site remediation program, developing numerous hazardous waste cleanup regulations, overseeing hazardous waste cleanup operations in the state of New Jersey (shout-out to my Garden State heritage), and eventually directing multimillion-dollar cleanup projects throughout the country when she served as Deputy Director and Acting Director of agency's enforcement division.
After 16 years with the EPA, Jackson joined the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection as assistant commissioner of compliance and enforcement, heading numerous programs involving land use regulation, geological survey, and water supply, standards and monitoring, and water use management. Under Jackson's leadership, the state Department of Environmental Protection developed and implemented the landmark Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act.
In December of 2008, Barack Obama officially designated Lisa Jackson as the nominee for Administrator of the EPA. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in January of 2009, and started right away on a U.S. campaign to tackle greenhouse gas emissions. She's certainly got my support.
How could you not want to read the work of this amazingly accomplished woman? Sure, there are countless books on environmental protection and related policy, but this one would be different, drawing upon a truly experienced perspective rooted in scientific understanding and years of bureaucratic government experience.
It has long been believed (and with good reason) that the EPA's authority is drawn primarily from its regulatory power, giving the agency a public image as being ineffectual and untrustworthy. Since her earliest days at the agency, Lisa Jackson has worked diligently towards an essential task: restoring public trust in the EPA. Well, this book is her opportunity to put it all into writing! In a time when government mistrust continues to grow, a compelling work by Lisa Jackson could combine history, science, and vision to give the American public (and our industries, businesses, and even other sectors of government) confidence that she and her team are serving all of our best interests.
Amazingly, Ms. Jackson has yet to write a book, and you know I would just love to sign the first-ever African American woman to serve in her position as my first-ever author.
