Choosing Lisa Jackson to Head EPA, Obama Goes With Veteran Regulator
The approach is controversial. Critics say it will result in shoddy work and give only the appearance of a cleanup. Jackson and her supporters insist that in the absence of necessary funding and staff, they have no other choice if they want the sites to be cleaned up at all.
If nothing else, the dispute does underscore Jackson's efforts to seek compromises on difficult issues. "I think it's fair to say that she does try to find middle ground," says Cindy Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action. "She knows how the system operates and, from a management standpoint, how the pieces should work together."
Jackson herself has said that she does not want "the perfect" to be "the enemy of the good." Observers credit her with relying on scientific data to guide her decision, even if it leads to unpopular outcomes. One such example: As commissioner, Jackson oversaw an effort to install pollution traps on the tailpipes of public transit vehicles. Some environmentalists pushed her to control emissions from the engine's crankcase as well. She declined, saying that research showed the benefit was minuscule.
"Lisa is not one for doing things for political fanfare-making," Mottola said. "If the research suggests this is not the right thing to do, she'll say this is not the right thing to do. You will not see science buried under Lisa Jackson."
Reader Comments
The advisability of "Greenhouse Gas" regulation
The “greenhouse gas” argument is technically unjustifiable alarmism. I understand this argument and have explained it on my website.
The Inevitable Global Warming paradigm shift
by Phil Holbrook Ph.D.
The earth heats rapidly when direct sunlight reaches the earth’s surface. Most of the atmospheric heating results from infrared radiation that propagates upward from the earth’s land surface and oceans. The fundamental physics is well known.
The presently popular explanation of global warming is that “greenhouse gasses” trap heat increasing global temperatures. This has not been shown Their supposition is that the present global warming is like that which occurs in a greenhouse. This supposition is contradicted by the observed data sequence and is inconsistent with accepted physics hence their “quotation marks”.
The public technical paper, Global Warming and Earth Climatic Cycles; The Governing Physics, its natural trigger, and sequence, by Phil Holbrook Ph.D., was written using accepted physics that is linked by formal logic.
Abstract
Atmospheric albedo is the first order control of earth’s climate. Cloud cover reflects thirty to eighty (30-80 %) of incident solar energy. The earth cools quickly when a cloud passes over and heats quickly after it passes. Atmospheric albedo is the primary control of earth temperature on an hourly to decade long time scale.
Highly absorptive (albedo <5%) oceans cover about seventy percent (70%) of the earth. The heat capacity of this water is (4.187) vs. dry air (1.006). Additionally the phase changes of ice to water and water to vapor are about (334 to 2,270). The phase changes of water and its naturally high heat capacity dominate the earth’s thermal inertia i.e. climate by more than (560,000:1).
Carbon Dioxide’s heat capacity is only (0.819). Given water’s higher heat capacity of (4.187), the equivalent heat capacity depth in the oceans is less than ten (<10) centimeters. The light from the sun penetrates hundreds of meters into the oceans. The oceans dominate atmospheric Carbon Dioxide’s thermal inertia by well over (1,000,000:1)!!
The Geologic record provides continuous temperature and Carbon Dioxide data. Carbon Dioxide is measured directly in air bubbles trapped in ice varves. The record at Vostok Antarctica goes back 420,000 years.
There is a strong inverse physical-chemical relationship between Carbon Dioxide’s solubility and oceanic water temperature. This physical chemistry has been well known for decades. Most of this accepted physics and physical chemistry can be looked up on the website http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com. We needn’t and shouldn’t “invent” a new “greenhouse gas” term to explain rapid global warming. It is better explained by accepted physics using observed quantitative data.
Accepted physics is the proposed new paradigm. Visit http://GlobalClimateCycles.info for a more thorough explanation. Then reconsider the “greenhouse gas” supposition.
Jackson EPA Administrator
Jackson takes no responsibility for the problems at NJDEP by claiming they were there before her time. Since most of the problems at EPA also occurred before her time - she is warning us not to expect too much.
The country deserves better. Establishing goals to reduce greenhouse gases and never implementing is a joke. A child could have made the same recommendations. Key is to establish how you are actually going to meet those goals.
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