Lisa P. Jackson, in her job as head of the Environmental Protection Agency, may seem far removed from the everyday concerns of American people. But nothing could be more false, asserts the EPA administrator. “You just have to realize that the environment is the air you breathe and the water that comes out of your tap.†With more than 20 years of experience in environmental protection, and as a married mother of two teenage boys–the younger of whom has asthma and uses an inhaler twice a day–Jackson knows all too well how inextricably the environment is linked to health. She is committed to engaging Americans not only in the health and safety benefits of environmental protection, but also in the economic opportunity in business development and job creation that protecting the environment affords. She also hopes to renew the public’s trust in the EPA’s work.
Just a year ago, before Jackson was sworn in as the first African American administrator of the EPA, the agency had been called one of the most demoralized in the federal government. But the new administrator’s commitment to the environment is unassailable. The White House has sought to empower the EPA to be an enforcer for carbon emissions. At press time, the White House was battling with Congress to determine who will take the lead. “I love to point out that we have ‘protection’ in our name,†says Jackson, who was raised in New Orleans. “If we’re not doing it, there is simply no other agency in the federal family whose job it is to protect the environment.†The agency’s job may have gotten easier: Under the Obama administration, the EPA received a 30% increase in funding–the largest in its history.
To date the EPA has obligated nearly 99% of its Recovery Act funding to states across the nation for a wide variety of projects that will put Americans to work while improving air quality, protecting drinking water, or cleaning up hazardous or blighted land. According to Jackson, the agency’s Recovery Act funding has saved or created nearly 6,800 jobs. We talked with Jackson about her vision and goals for the agency in 2010 and beyond.
Improving air quality and protecting America’s water are two of your top priorities. What progress have you made in those areas?
Last year EPA initiated a program to monitor air quality around some of the nation’s public schools in response to a USA Today article about high levels of particulate matter in the air around the places where our kids go to learn. Parents across the nation read about how children absorb toxic pollutants in the same quantities as adults. In response, EPA launched a nationwide study to test the air around more than 60 schools most at risk.
In December, EPA also proposed new, stricter standards for smog and for NO2 [nitrogen dioxide, which comes from vehicles and industrial facilities]. Smog, also known as ground-level ozone, is linked to a number of serious health problems ranging from aggravation of asthma to increased risk of premature death in people with heart or lung disease. Short-term exposure to NO2 has been linked to impaired lung function and increased respiratory infections, especially in people with asthma.
Today, the portfolio of pollution and other challenges around water quality is more
varied than it has ever been. Chemicals seep into our water supply from a variety of less conventional places. That’s why last year I unveiled the Obama administration’s goals for reform of dangerous toxins, chemicals, and pesticides. I also announced plans for a major push to strengthen EPA’s current chemical management program and increase the pace of the agency’s efforts to address chemicals that pose a risk to the public. We invested $6 billion in drinking water and wastewater projects to create a stronger infrastructure for clean water, to boost the economy, and to create jobs. I also directed the agency to revamp our enforcement program, because we can have good regulations that protect our water but we must do a good job of enforcing them.The Obama administration has earmarked more than $80 billion of stimulus funding for energy and environmental programs. How closely are you working with the Department of Labor to implement those programs in states and cities?
We consider ourselves part of the engine that Labor will need to really make that green economy take hold. The president continually says that the way out of our current economic crisis is the green economy. So when EPA is requiring air pollution controls, there are lots of jobs in the air pollution control industry; and when EPA requires a water plant to upgrade or someone to take action to clean up water, those are all green jobs. When we cut diesel pollution by retrofitting a bus or a garbage truck, those are green jobs. When we ask someone to clean up a Superfund site [land that has been contaminated by hazardous waste
We had $100 million through the Recovery Act for our brownfields [land that is abandoned, idled, or underused; less of an environmental threat, brownfields represent an economic threat since they hinder development and stifle local economies] program to clean up former industrial and commercial sites. The brownfields 2011 proposed budget includes an increase of $215 million that will be used for planning, cleanup, redevelopment, and job training. Our brownfields job training program prepares workers for jobs in the cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields properties, including abandoned corner gas stations, old textile mills, closed smelters, and abandoned industrial and commercial properties. These investments target underserved and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, places where environmental cleanups and new jobs are most needed. The brownfields job training program has trained 5,000 people, and more than half have already been placed in full-time employment in the environmental field with an average starting hourly wage of more than $14.
As EPA’s first black administrator, do you feel it’s important for African Americans to get involved with the environment and embrace the clean energy future?
We, for too long, falsely believed that the environment is something out there that we didn’t need to worry about too much. The environmental justice movement should be credited for making it clear that anything that affects the environment tends to impact people of color and certainly
If you’re not thinking about energy as a solution, we’re going to miss a huge opportunity. The president is calling on Americans to embrace a completely different future. It will be a new economy, and the best thing about a new economy is that it wipes the board clean and allows us an opportunity to get in on the ground floor.
How do you plan to attract and encourage small business owners? What type of financial or tax incentives will be offered?
The Recovery Act includes grants, loans, and tax credits in the clean energy and renewable energy fields. Here at EPA we have a strong small business program. EPA is a place that actually grows business opportunities. We have a home for minority concerns, whether it’s contracting, training, or other issues. Of the approximately $325 million in Recovery Act money obligated under EPA contracts to date, about $103 million has gone to minority-owned firms, many of which are small businesses. To reach our office of small business programs, call 202-566-2075, or visit our Website, www.epa.gov/osbp, and click on Direct Team.
This article originally appeared in the April 2010 issue of Black Enterprise magazine.
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