Despite speculation, Lisa Jackson staying on at EPA

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by Leslie Pitterson
Clutch Magazine

While many have been speculating that President Obama’s decision to hold of on reform of the smog standard would push Lisa Jackson to resign, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency says she has no plans to leave the administration.

Breaking weeks of silence, Jackson addressed the rumors speaking to the press after a meeting in the Senate Hart Building. When asked if she had plans to leave her post, the EPA head replied, “No ma’am.”

In the past weeks, many have called for Jackson to resign in protest to the White House putting plans for the new rule on hold. The White House claims that new regulations against smog would add regulatory uncertainty to an economy already in great flux.

Though she did not make a public statement expressing her discontent, it would not be a stretch to say she is privately upset with the decision as reforming the 2008 ozone rule was one of her major goals at the EPA.

POLITICO reports:

Revising the George W. Bush administration’s 2008 ozone rule has been a top priority for Jackson since she assumed the helm of the EPA in 2009. Some of her supporters said she might not stick around much longer in light of the decision, and others have even called for her to resign in protest.

In 2009, Jackson said setting a tougher smog standard “is one of the most important measures we can take to safeguard our health and our environment.” And she recently said the Bush-era rule was “not legally defensible.”

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