Editor's Note: This is another installment in the Rapier's daily profiles of one of Barack Obama's nominees to a cabinet or high-level administration post.Environmental Protection Agency Administrator
Born February 8, 1962. Ms. Jackson is a member of Governor of New Jersey Jon S. Corzine's cabinet. She currently serves as his Chief of Staff. A native of New Orleans, Jackson earned a master's degree in chemical engineering from Princeton University. She is a also summa cum laude graduate of Tulane University's School of Chemical Engineering. Jackson resides in East Windsor, N.J. with her husband Kenny and their two sons.
Before her nomination by Governor Corzine, Jackson served as the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's (NJDEP's) Assistant Commissioner for Land Use Management during 2005. Jackson headed numerous programs including Land Use Regulation, Water Supply, Geological Survey, Water Monitoring and Standards, and Watershed Management. Jackson joined the DEP in March 2002 after 16 years with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), initially at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., and more recently at its regional office in New York City. During her tenure at the EPA, Jackson worked in the federal Superfund site remediation program, developing key hazardous waste cleanup regulations, overseeing hazardous waste cleanup projects throughout central New Jersey and directing multimillion-dollar cleanup operations. She later served as deputy director and acting director of the region’s enforcement division.
While DEP Commissioner, in July 2006, she had to shut down all state parks and beaches due to the state governmental shutdown in relation to the state budget delay. As the state's chief environmental enforcer, Jackson led compliance sweeps in Camden and Paterson, communities in which the effects of pollution on public health had long been neglected. She launched the environmental initiative following "multicultural outreach efforts" to inform and involve community residents and businesses.
Jackson's performance at DEP was criticized by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. DEP employees describe Ms. Jackson as employing an allegedly "highly politicized approach to decision-making that resulted in suppression of scientific information, issuance of gag orders and threats against professional staff members who dared to voice concerns."
On October 24, 2008, Governor Corzine announced that Jackson would take over as his Chief of Staff, effective December 1, 2008. That tenure will likely be short-lived, given that President-Elect Obama has named her to head the EPA under his administration. If confirmed she'll be the first African American to serve as EPA Administrator.
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