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Obama’s EPA Administrator Resigns
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 05: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson addresses the White House Tribal Nations Conference at the Department of Interior December 5, 2012 in Washington, DC. Credit: Getty Images
WASHINGTON (The Blaze/AP) — The Obama administration’s chief environmental watchdog, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, is stepping down after a nearly four-year tenure marked by high-profile brawls over global warming pollution, the Keystone XL oil pipeline, new controls on coal-fired plants and several other hot-button issues that affect the nation’s economy and people’s health.
Jackson, the agency’s first black administrator, constantly found herself caught between administration pledges to solve controversial environmental problems and steady resistance from Republicans and industrial groups who complained that the agency’s rules destroyed jobs and made it harder for American companies to compete internationally.
The GOP chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Fred Upton, said last year that Jackson would need her own parking spot at the Capitol because he planned to bring her in so frequently for questioning. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney called for her firing, a stance that had little downside during the GOP primary.
She also came under fire last week after it was revealed she was conducting official business using a fake, personal email account. She used the name “Richard Windsor,” apparently a combination of her hometown and dog names. The EPA vowed an investigation afterwards.
Jackson, 50, a chemical engineer by training, did not point to any particular reason for her departure. Historically, Cabinet members looking to move on will leave at the beginning of a president’s second term.
“I will leave the EPA confident the ship is sailing in the right direction, and ready in my own life for new challenges, time with my family and new opportunities to make a difference,” she said in a statement. Jackson gave no exact date for her departure, but will leave after Obama’s State of the Union address in late January.
In a separate statement, Obama said Jackson has been “an important part of my team.” He thanked her for serving and praised her “unwavering commitment” to the public’s health.
“Under her leadership, the EPA has taken sensible and important steps to protect the air we breathe and the water we drink, including implementing the first national standard for harmful mercury pollution, taking important action to combat climate change under the Clean Air Act and playing a key role in establishing historic fuel economy standards that will save the average American family thousands of dollars at the pump, while also slashing carbon pollution.”
Environmental groups had high expectations for the Obama administration after eight years of President George W. Bush. Jackson came into office promising a more active EPA.
But she soon learned that changes would not occur as quickly as she had hoped. Jackson watched as a Democratic-led effort to reduce global warming emissions passed the House in 2009 but was abandoned by the Senate as economic concerns became the priority. The concept behind the bill, referred to as cap-and-trade, would have set up a system in which power companies bought and sold pollution rights.
“That’s a revolutionary message for our country,” Jackson said at a Paris conference a few months after taking the job.
Jackson experienced another big setback last year when the administration scrubbed a clean-air regulation aimed at reducing health-threatening smog. Republican lawmakers had been hammering the president over the proposed rule, accusing his administration of making it harder for companies to create jobs.
She also vowed to better control toxic coal ash after a massive spill in Tennessee, but that regulation has yet to be finalized more than four years after the spill.
Jackson had some victories, too. During her tenure, the administration finalized a new rule doubling fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks. The requirements will be phased in over 13 years and eventually require all new vehicles to average 54.5 mpg, up from 28.6 mpg at the end of last year.
She shepherded another rule that forces power plants to control mercury and other toxic pollutants for the first time and also helped persuade the administration to table the controversial Keystone XL pipeline (a move, however, met by heavy criticism because of the potential jobs it sidelined).
House Republicans dedicated much of their time this past election year trying to rein in the EPA. They passed a bill seeking to thwart regulation of the coal industry and quash the stricter fuel efficiency standards. In the end, though, the bill made no headway in the Senate. It served mostly as election-year fodder that appeared to have little impact on the presidential election.
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Comments (99)
poster
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:04amA prediction for her replacement… black, female, partially disabled, openly gay, married to her partner of 8 months, single mother, Harvard grad with degree in African studies and political science, Chicago native, former network news executive, former community organizer, “active” in local politics, Obama bundler.
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Tri-ox
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:16am@POSTER – Throw in ‘islam panderer’ and ’1/32 Cherokee’ and I think we’ve got our new EPA administrator.
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naughtycal
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:25amThere are tons of new EPA regulations getting ready to be put in place in after Jan. 1 she’s trying avoid the shi7 storm she created.
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Plan B
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:29amI am sure this has nothing to do with Richard Windsor.
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G-WHIZ
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:39amAlready used-up alla her “special tallents” to add to the Fabian-sociallists Agenda of King-O’!
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Gold Coin & Economic News
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 12:12pmThis will certainly be an interesting new year with the flood of new regulations ready to hit the country. No wonder she’s getting out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q9u8LkgmhI
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michaelmoron
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 3:56pmThis POS knew there was a class action lawsuit coming because they did not stop the geoengineering.
ALL of us were ASSAULTED !!!!!!
They are still spraying Millions of tons of Aluminum, Barium and Strontium into our air that we are breathing in !!!!
These nano particulates are so small it is considered a vapor.
It gets into your bloodstream. It is too small for your body to filter.
HEADS ARE GOING TO ROLL !!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9cQfcKR0EM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEfJO0-cTis
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michaelmoron
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 4:56pmThe fact is NO Trustee has any authority over you unless you violated the rights of another beneficiary.
ALL public servants are TRUSTEES of this TRUST called the Constitution.
WE the PEOPLE are the Constitutions Creator (Grantor)
ALL Gov’t employees from the roadkill clean-up crew to the President to the Supreme Court Justice are PUBLIC SERVANTS (Trustees)
WE the PEOPLE are the beneficiaries of this Trust.
The Constitution was not made for the people.
It was made for the Trustees. It is their guideline and rules put in place by the Grantor (We the People).
It tells them how to manage the affairs of the beneficiaries.
NOT MANAGE THE BENEFICIARIES, ONLY THEIR AFFAIRS.
Under trust law, a TRUSTEE can never order a beneficiary, or take anything from them (i.e.Taxes)
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GuruMeditation
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 7:50pmYou’re likely correct.
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deadend
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:17pmyou forgot marist and will probably declair ligh polution
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Salamander
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:00amAnd, I’m sure she put all the power lines back up in New York, New Jersey and elsewhere after Hurricane Sandy! The President must have been really pleased! Has anyone calculated the number of square miles of solar panels it will take just to replace the coal-fired power plants that have been shut down during her tenure?
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The_Woofster
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:11amWell wait just a minute. If I remember, solar panels are black in color. They need to be white, like they want our roofs, roads, parking lots and so on, so they don’t heat up the ground and contribute to “climate change”.
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G-WHIZ
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:36amiT’S THOUSANDS OF MILES per Coal-Power-plant!! Half of Illinois would be needed to power CHICAGO durring the day—-but what about the night??
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DadRocked
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 12:06pmNONE of this really matters… She was just a seedling and will be replaced by another…
NOW the bad news… JOHN KERRY will replace her at a higher position outside of the EPA on an international level..
Kerry plans to use the position of secretary of state to promote his global warming agenda. From that office, he plans to promote the global warming scam as “a slow-motion crisis in need of a global solution,” as the L.A. Times puts it.
In August, Kerry put his views on global warming in perspective in a speech from the Senate floor: “Today we had a hearing in the Foreign Relations Committee on the subject of Syria, and we all know what’s happening with respect to Iran, and nuclear weapons and the possibility even of a war. Well, this issue actually is of as significant a level of importance, because it affects life itself on the planet, because it affects ecosystems on which the oceans and the land depend for the relationship of the warmth of our earth and the amount of moisture that there is and all of the interactions that occur as a consequence of our climate.”
Kerry, long involved in the scheme of global warming to weaken America. His wife, has used her Heinz Family Foundation and other foundations to fund the push of UN’s Agenda 21 of forcing “sustainable” living on unsuspecting Americans. The fact Kerry can say with a straight face that it is as urgent an issue as war in the Middle East says all you need to know about his stance.
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AbrahamsSheepdog
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 12:53pmDad nailed it. Hes an old rich muppet. He’s bad news, this is quite a group of idiots & fools.
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DadRocked
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 1:08pmHey DAWG! Good to hear you out there…
…this is quite a group of idiots & fools.”
Idiots YEP… fools? Get enough of those fools together and they have a major chess game…
At AMERICANS expense…
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DadRocked
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 1:12pmEvery government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories. — Thomas Jefferson
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GrayPanther
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:53amRegardless of education or personality the appointments will have to be of a Communist persuasion to get the “Dear Leader” to approve. Serew all this; get involved in your community and get a grass roots group going door to door to unite the believers in America to VOTE next time for a principled American.
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DougHuffman
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:49amMade an offer that could not be refused, hopefully by an activist business man.
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DadRocked
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:35amVan Jones offered her a job?
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purecolorartist
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:45amShe will be replaced by someone even worse.
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Ditto Head
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:58amNo doubt.
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Benjack
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:08amMy try for Van Jones again?
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HOOT_OWL
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:43amAnother ‘tip’ of the iceberg event from this administration.
Nothing is at it seems.
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GunsBlazin
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:41amI love the standard line that everyone everywhere uses when they “resign” for no apparent reason: “to spend more time with my family” Are you saying you made so much off us that you don’t need to work for a while? How are you going to afford Obamacare?
On a side note, I’m really tired of hearing/reading “the first black…..” WHO THE HECK CARES!!!!!! Should we be so amazed that a black person accomplished something that we need to draw attention to it each and every time?
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Salamander
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:02amI AGREE with your remark, but I remembered a boss once suggesting that I take a little vacation, by stating that “No one every lay on their death bed wishing they had spent a little more time at work!” I took a much-needed break, and only then realized that I had been burning my candle at both ends!
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truthnstuff
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 12:45pmA gubamin job is a vacation.
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Tri-ox
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:39amLisa Jackson is a traitor, and a sworn enemy of the United States – she belongs in prison.
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woodyee
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:38am“Under her leadership, the EPA has taken [SENSIBLE] and important steps to protect the air we breathe and the water we drink…”
Notice how the Leftists have replaced the phrase “for the children” with the word “sensible”? All of their ****-eyed opinions are now wrapped in the word “sensible”…
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honestynow
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 2:40pmThe EPA is sooooo concerned about the air we breathe, they had test subjects breathe in diesel fuel-
http://www2.nbc17.com/news/2012/sep/28/10/lawsuit-claims-subjects-epa-trial-inhaled-dangerou-ar-2647994/
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1776freedomofspeech
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:37amAnd Toure said he didn’t believe in Santa Claus.
Two good news stories in a row.
Thanks Jonathon M. Seidl and Blaze Staff!
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PapaJohannesPatriot
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:36amWonder what her next appointment will be.
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shorthanded12
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:43amShe will venture into some college job position or some so called 501 3c think tank and continue her left wing radical mind set. Wanna bet?
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RightUnite
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:35amSomeone must have something really bad on her…. Someone needs to work on that, and find out what.
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engineerairborne
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:38amIt’s perfect for Obama, while the GOP is busy still trying to figure out the damage this one caused, a new one get’s to slip in and start their own carnage.
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engineerairborne
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:35amI’m sure she will just be replaced with someone that is even more extreme, not a good time to be working in any field that the EPA regulates, look for downsizing in these sectors to continue.
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Ironeagle
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:34amThe world is a better place today…one less environmental Nazi in a position to ruin us.
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progressiveslayer
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:36amSadly it will be replaced with another worthless progressive.
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ResistSocialism
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:34amhow black is that
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shorthanded12
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:33amEPA, Dept of Labor, Dept of Education, Dept of Energy, Dept of State, Dept of Homeland Security just to name a few are filled with lifetime and appointed radicals its no wonder this country is in decline. We the taxpayers should demand that all these federal agencies need to be “Downsized” immediately. Save the fiscal cliff thats simple DOWN SIZE GOVERNMENT, YES IM SAYING FIRE, LAY OFF, DELETE, GET RID OF GOVERNMENT JOBS AND AGENCIES. PERIOD. “ITS THE SPENDING PROBLEM STUPID’
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Mikev5
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:45amTrue we now are burdened by massive departments made up over the last 100 years
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SpankDaMonkey
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:32am.
That cow had no idea what she was doing…….
Sorry if I offened any bovine women out there……
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shorthanded12
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:45amShe didn’t comply with Moochells diet program.
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Salamander
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:05amPower plants? Wonder Bread? I wonder what’s next? Maybe they could CLOSE the U.S. Mint and Bureau of Printing and Engraving! I think we have enough money in circulation! Maybe if we stopping printing more, The President might have to stop spending it!
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progressiveslayer
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:32amNixon inflicted the unconstitutional EPA on us in 1970 by executive order and it’s too bad Barry doesn’t meet the same fate as Nixon did, impeached and forced to resign. Maybe he will since the scandals are numerous with this regime,time will tell.
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IndyGuy
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:32amThis is the Obama way…Let them do as much damage as possible and then resign…NEXT…
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skippy6
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:31am“I will leave the EPA confident the ship is sailing right down a drain…..You know all of us libertarians love dirty air and water…Chemical engineer by training??? WTF does that mean??? No degree???
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Mikev5
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:30amEverything the EPA has implemented will cost the people dearly and deeply to the tune if higher gasoline bills and higher electric bills nothing more
The Looney’s are now running our life’s quackery is now the norm and common sense is out the door
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frogg
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:29amthis outfit defies the Constitution continously!
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tockingg
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:44amAnd the keepers of the Constitution are doing what? All branches of government have fallen short in so many ways in upholding the very oath of office they swore to. This basic principle must be adhered to for the rest to fall in line!
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JeffMT
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:28amHopefully this is a signal that Obama is going to approve the XL pipeline and will make the announcement during the state of the union address. It will be interesting to see if Hillary signs off on it as SOS before she disappears completely or if she leaves it for Kerry to deal with.
Good riddance, Jackson.
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oldguy49
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:32amsombody needs to get MIA bracelets out for hillary
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susan126
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:28amResigned like in the bogus resignations in the state department over Benghazi?
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Cavallo
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:25amNot extreme enough? Just wait. You aint seen nuthin yet. They’ve already come out with some doozies here for the 2013 regulation year. Combined with BoboCare, the American Serf is in a heap of trouble. Soon it’ll be too expensive to heat your home in the winter and too expensive to cool your home in the summer. If Grandma dies from it, her death will be added to the statistical government rolls to push for more Global Warming control. If only the American Serf would hand even more of his liberty to the Central Committees, they would be able to control the weather for us, so we could have mild summers and mild winters ,, forever by the grace of our benevolent masters in Washington.
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progressiveslayer
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:41amYou’re spot on there and I’ll only add we have no private property rights in transformed Amerika and not just since Barry’s installation,it’s been going on since the illegal dept. was inflicted on us in 1970.The government will control every aspect of our lives,they’re collectivist pigs the lot of them.
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