December 28, 2012

Why didn't EPA adminstrator Lisa P. Jackson fulfill "high hopes of sweeping action to address climate change"?

Maybe you can find clues in the NYT article about her departure. I note:
After his re-election, and a campaign in which global warming was barely mentioned by either candidate, Mr. Obama said that his first priority would be jobs and the economy and that he intended only to foster a “conversation” on climate change in the coming months....
In political rhetoric, "conversation" usually means: I don't want to talk about it.
After Republicans took control of the House in 2010, Ms. Jackson became a favored target of the new Republican majority’s aversion to what it termed “job-killing regulations.” One coal industry official accused her of waging “regulatory jihad,” and she was summoned to testify before hostile House committees dozens of times in 2011. She was frequently subjected to harsh questioning that at times bordered on the disrespectful.

Ms. Jackson, the first African-American to head the E.P.A....
Oh! Those terrible Republicans! Harshly questioning an African-American! Why it bordered on the disrespectful. At times.

Among Jackson's modest achievements (which appear to be limited mostly by President Obama's re-election-conscious decisions):
[N]ew vehicle standards will eliminate billions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions and double the fuel efficiency of the American light-duty transportation fleet over the next decade.
Billions of tons over a decade? Did you know human beings on earth exhale about 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year?

The NYT article ends with this quote from Jackson: "Before me... some people said that African-Americans don’t care about the environment. I don’t think that will ever be the case again." Ironically, that's the first time I've ever heard that stereotype.

ADDED: I was surprised to read that the EPA has 17,000 employees. What's the carbon footprint of an agency with 17,000 employees?

57 comments:

Henry said...

Nothing lowers fossil fuel use like a dying economy. You've got to give her that, at least.

Phil 314 said...

Welcome to our "post-racial" society.

Still too vanilla

Shouting Thomas said...

Related, this Times article about the dire situation in Montana.

Kids right out of high school are nabbing jobs in the oil fields that pay $40,000 to $50,000!

The problem... They aren't going to college! Zounds!

The gloomy tenor of this article is quite funny. The Times even interviews the local high school principal who is very concerned, very concerned about this worrisome trend of young people finding good jobs near their homes.

Shouting Thomas said...

[N]ew vehicle standards will eliminate billions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions and double the fuel efficiency of the American light-duty transportation fleet over the next decade.

The best way to engineer cars for consumers is always to first issue a government decree that defines the design specs.

And, a black government official should always issue the diktat. That makes the diktat super official.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

17,000 employees. No wonder the democrats need more of our hard earned money. The bureaucrats are hungry.

Sydney said...

AprilApple,

17,000 employees. No wonder the democrats need more of our hard earned money. The bureaucrats are hungry.

I was thinking that, too. Imagine how much unemployment will go up if they cut those bloated bureaucracies.

Shanna said...

Are these rules why you can't buy a car with a v6 under 30 grand anymore?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Imagine how many real jobs in the private sector (jobs that don't require a tax payer to fund them) would increase if we could cut the waste and bloat in government? Some of these bureaucrats should find a real job and compete in the real world. We are edging close to the hunger game scenario where the nation is bled dry while the DC tax-sucking machine lives high off the decadence hog.

Matt Sablan said...

By Lisa Jackson, do we mean Richard Windsor? Man, if I knew when and how breaking the law was acceptable, I'd do it more often.

Shouting Thomas said...

From Iowahawk, the 2012 Pelosi GTxi SS/RT Sport!

It took an entire Congress to design it!

pm317 said...

Ironically, that's the first time I've ever heard that stereotype.

Their whole existence is a stereotype in their minds for some of them. It is all about their skin.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Most transparent administration in history! With fake e-mail accounts and everything.

After years of whispers that EPA officials frequently used private email addresses, fake names and coded messages to circumvent the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, Jackson admitted recently to using "Richard Windsor" as her chosen nom de plume on a government email account.

Transparency! Her skin is slightly light brownish. So, shut up. racists.

AHL said...

I am curious as to how many EPA employees drive to work or take green modes of transportation. The Prius is much cooler than biking. Am I not supposed to eat fish due to Mercury regulations? The 17,000 employees would still be contributing to the carbon footprint if they were not employed by the EPA. Will these people decide to not have families, or maybe, out of distress over the environment, harm themselves or others for the sake of the environmental? I really want to have the statistics on how EPA officials live before trusting them to create more regulations.

FleetUSA said...

The EPA always couches its edicts with saving lives (as if people won't die eventually) without putting $$s to it, but the EPA never ever mentions the number of jobs which will be lost and lives endangered because of the many factors triggered by life without a meaningful job - alcoholism, suicide, murder, cancer?

X said...

why isn't Lisa Jackson in jail? she ran a covert operation against the law.

RunnerJeffM said...

"[N]ew vehicle standards will eliminate billions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions and double the fuel efficiency of the American light-duty transportation fleet over the next decade."

I would think that it would take some R & D and maybe an engineer or two. Silly me.

Can we pass a regulation that makes cold fusion real? 'Cause I think that would be neat.

Ambrose said...

17,000 employees with at least 34,000 email addresses.

SteveR said...

I have worked in the environmental field for over twenty years and much of it dealing directly with EPA. Politics plays a big part in what drives the agency's agenda but mostly the desirable jobs in EPA are in developing new regulations, not enforcing the existing ones. There is no plateau or slowing down, more regs, more regs. The states do most of the permitting and enforcement, EPA just makes new regs.

Known Unknown said...

She was frequently subjected to harsh questioning that at times bordered on the disrespectful.

Every article is an op-ed piece.

Journalism is dead.

Matt Sablan said...

Should we respect people who use pseudonyms to thwart FOIA?

MadisonMan said...

Did you know human beings on earth exhale about 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year?

From the point of view of Anthropogenically Forced changes, this is a meaningless statistic.

Still, because I try to be "Green", and all, I mostly sit around all day, and try not to exercise strenuously (although I *did* bowl last night) so as to reduce my CO2 emissions. (laugh)

CWJ said...

What Runner JeffM said.

America has now entered the world of the old Soviet five and ten year plans where the writing of the plan is enough to accomplish its objectives. All is symbolism, and symbolism is reality. Doing things is for the little people who can't comprehend the moral superiority of the symbolist.

Look around you the highest personal goal of any status seeker today is to occupy a position that avoids actually doing anything more concrete than putting words to paper.

Our current president is a man of the times.

lemondog said...

Did you know human beings on earth exhale about 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year?

Any stats on how much CO2 emissions released by dinosaurs?

@ MM, re: (laugh), in your "Green" quest, it seems to me you should repress such urges

lemondog said...

Should we respect people who use pseudonyms to thwart FOIA?

YES!! For ingenuity.

CWJ said...

Shanna @ 7:31

I agree. I looked at the new Ford Fusion midsize this year because of its dramatic new look. But mechanically, all Ford wants to talk about is its gas mileage. You have a choice of at least 4(!) different engines - all 4s, not one six. My wife thought it was a dog to drive.

In the near future, we will all be driving gorgeous cars that can't get out of their own way.

edutcher said...

Ever notice all the "black" women around Choom are even whiter than him?

Wince said...

As if throwing people out of work isn't "disrespectful".

The NYT article ends with this quote from Jackson: "Before me... some people said that African-Americans don’t care about the environment. I don’t think that will ever be the case again." Ironically, that's the first time I've ever heard that stereotype.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s the rap was that organizations like the NAACP were said to be Uncle Toms because nuclear power companies and (remember) those Mobil advocacy ads used to get their support on economic growth grounds.

It's the reason leftist community organizer-types decided to make the location of polluting industries in low-income areas into a "race" issue, in order to bring communities of color, poverty and environmentalism together.

Unknown said...

Ever notice all the "black" women around Choom are even whiter than him?

WTF?

Only a dumbfuck would make a comment like that.

Rusty said...

RunnerJeffM said...
"[N]ew vehicle standards will eliminate billions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions and double the fuel efficiency of the American light-duty transportation fleet over the next decade."



That. Right there is the left in a nutshell.
Every car a Treb...........er......"Smart Car"
Except for the bureaucrats of course. they'll have Zi...er.......humveess

Larry J said...

AprilApple said...
Imagine how many real jobs in the private sector (jobs that don't require a tax payer to fund them) would increase if we could cut the waste and bloat in government? Some of these bureaucrats should find a real job and compete in the real world.


There's the rub. Deep in their hearts, they know they'd never cut it in the real world where results are expected. It's the same with tenured liberal arts academics. If they're at all honest with themselves, they know their degrees and knowledge are worthless outside of a college campus. That's why they hate the real world so much.

MayBee said...

I had no idea she's black. I've seen pictures of her and everything. I never noticed it, and I'd never heard it mentioned.

Unknown said...

this worrisome trend of young people finding good jobs near their homes.

If you've ever been to eastern Montana, to towns like Sidney, you know why salaries have to be high to entice people to live there.

Unknown said...

It's the same with tenured liberal arts academics. If they're at all honest with themselves, they know their degrees and knowledge are worthless outside of a college campus. That's why they hate the real world so much.

Another Althouse lemming dumbfuck yaps about things he doesn't know.

Ambrose said...

"If you've ever been to eastern Montana, to towns like Sidney, you know why salaries have to be high to entice people to live there"



Odd, you mean it's not the "living wage" laws?

Unknown said...

I had no idea she's black.

No one thinks it's relevant. Except Althouse, of course, who is eager to throw red meat to the bigots.

Known Unknown said...

I had no idea she's black.

No one thinks it's relevant. Except Althouse, of course, who is eager to throw red meat to the bigots.


The New York Times thought it relevant.

Known Unknown said...

Did you know human beings on earth exhale about 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year?

If we killed half the humans, we could get that down to 1.5 billion tons!

Shouting Thomas said...

If you've ever been to eastern Montana, to towns like Sidney, you know why salaries have to be high to entice people to live there.

They aren't enticing people to live there.

They're hiring local high school kids.

Another failure by the ever pissed off Jake.

MadisonMan said...

I had no idea she's black.

You probably don't think Elizabeth Warren is an American Indian either.

James Graham said...

Eleven thousand employees!

I'm on a one-man crusade to demand attention be paid to the number of Federal employees in various departments.

Come on, Republican congress people, start mentioning the headcount! Do it soon, do it often. The numbers in these departments will shock most Americans.

So will the fact that most of those jobs are for life. No administration has ever demanded across-the-board layoffs of Fed employees, something that frequently happens in the private sector.

chuck said...

double the fuel efficiency of the American light-duty transportation fleet over the next decade.

Oh wow. Without government there would never have been any motivation to cut costs by increasing fuel efficiency by a factor of two. Man, all that was needed was a law. While they are at it, I think the should amend the law of gravity to make light duty transportation really light so as to cut rolling friction.

Peter said...

Did you know human beings on earth exhale about 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year?

The NYT is astoundingly ignorant when it comes to basic science. If they were as ignorant about politics as they are about science, they'd routinely confuse Moscow, Kansas with Moscow, Russia.

Of course, the NYT is not at all unusual in this- it's not as though journalists ever take any of those difficult STEM courses.
But I'd guess they could catch most of the larger bloopers just by paying a hard science grad. student a few bucks to review any stories with significant hard science content.

If they cared enough to do so, of course.

As for the EPA, the basic problem is that regulations are accretive: old ones never go away, and new ones are always being created.

Which is surely a formula for ultimate regulatory sclerosis.

Crimso said...

"What's the carbon footprint of an agency with 17,000 employees?"

Impossible to determine until we discover all of the illegal covert communications they have been using.

mark said...

Jake Diamond said...
"I had no idea she's black.

No one thinks it's relevant. Except Althouse, of course, who is eager to throw red meat to the bigots."

She thought it was relevant ...

“Before me,” she said, “some people said that African-Americans don’t care about the environment. I don’t think that will ever be the case again.”

Oh well. What is the weather like today in the world existing solely in your head?

X said...

who outed Lisa Jackson's super secret illegal covert email operation? was it Scooter Libby?

Unknown said...

They aren't enticing people to live there.

They're hiring local high school kids.


So it never occurred to Shouting Dumbass that local high school kids leave these small towns in eastern Montana in droves. So yeah, the companies ARE enticing people to live there. Not to move there, but to stay and live there.

Dumbass.

Sam L. said...

Black officials are only criticized because they are black. There is no other possibility.

Hazy Dave said...

Equating "not littering" with "protecting the environment" was a big part of the presentation of "Earth Day" to school kids back in the 70's, IIRC. Also, turning off the water while brushing teeth (yes, even right next to Lake Michigan). Overpopulation of the planet and aerosols damaging the ozone layer were presented as other major problems. Now, we need to buy special gasoline to reduce the amount of ozone produced in the summer. There's still plenty of litter to be found, but maybe we've made a little progress in that area.

Anyway, all I really wanted to say was, why did it take so long to discover that "[N]ew vehicle standards" are all it takes to "double the fuel efficiency of the American light-duty transportation fleet." Frickin' geniuses.

Mitch H. said...

Jackson's black? That's at least the fourth Obama administration official whom I would have never have known their ethnicity if some offended journalist hadn't informed me that I was racist for being suspicious or offended by said official's behavior in office. Holder (well, at the time of his nomination, actually - back when he was a lower-rung Clinton Justice Dept guy, no idea he was black), Jarrett, Rice, and now Jackson.

Clearly, I don't watch cable TV or look at the photos accompanying news stories, but isn't that what everybody wants, allegedly - judging by the content of character and behavior rather than skin hue and so forth?

Kirk Parker said...

"Ms. Jackson, the first African-American to head the E.P.A..."

Who knew? Certainly not I; I've seen her name in print often enough, but as I literally never watch TV, and never chanced across a photo of her accompanying any news article. (Though it seems, from some of the earlier comments, that she's perhaps benefiting from the one-drop concept?)

But why does this even matter?

Hagar said...

If we are indeed going back to the 1949 Farm Bill, I believe there is a provision in it that number of USDA employees must not exceed the number of farmers in the United States.

Smilin' Jack said...

"Before me... some people said that African-Americans don’t care about the environment. I don’t think that will ever be the case again." Ironically, that's the first time I've ever heard that stereotype.

Jeez, it's pretty obvious. African-Americans live on fried chicken and watermelon, both of which are environmentally damaging to produce.

Anonymous said...

Forget having kids in the future. I doubt there will be an affordable 50mpg minivan. Everyone will drive electric (coal powered) two seaters. Forward!

MayBee said...

Jake- as others have pointed out, the NYTs pointed out she is black, not Althouse.

Hagar said...

The Corpse of the Eggineers are on the move again, trying to use the EPA's clean water act as a replacement for their "waters of the United States" authority, which the Supremes severely limited some years ago.

My favorite example from that era is when the CoE District Engineer wrote the Public Works Director in Rio Rancho, NM an irate letter complaining that he was working in the "waters of the United States" without a 404 permit, when he had sent the City crews out to clean out the borrow ditch along Southern Blvd. in front of the Intel plant!

madAsHell said...

When did they clone Valerie Jarrett??

Aaron said...

CAFE standards for the auto industry would be like Sugar Standards for the baking industry.

Just imagine pastry chefs being forced to churn out whole wheat bread in order to offset the sugar in their wedding cakes and eclairs.