Photo: Brendan Smialowski for The New York Times
In testimony at her confirmation hearing today before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, EPA-Administrator nominee Lisa Jackson pledged that science, not politics, would guide future decisions at the agency.
“Science must be the backbone of what E.P.A. does,” Ms. Jackson said in her prepared opening statement. “If I am confirmed, I will administer with science as my guide. I understand the laws leave room for policy-makers to make policy judgments. But if I am confirmed, political appointees will not compromise the integrity of E.P.A.’s technical experts to advance particular regulatory outcomes.”

The former commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, who had worked previously at the EPA, said that the Obama administration’s environmental priorities would focus on curbing global warming, reducing air pollution, cleaning up hazardous waste sites, regulating toxic chemicals and protecting water quality.
As the New York Times noted, Jackson’s confirmation “appears on track” as “the ranking Republican on the committee, Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, a skeptic on global warming, called her ‘accessible and reasonable’ and said he planned to vote to confirm her.”
Check out the initial stories on Jackson’s testimony below. We’ll update this post as others of note appear tomorrow.Nominee signals big change for EPA (Washington Post)
Jackson Promises to Put Science First at E.P.A. (New York Times)
Jackson vows to take agency in new direction (Star-Ledger)
Jackson vows resolve at EPA helm (Bergen Record)
Jackson outlines aggressive agenda for EPA (Bergen Record)
EPA nominee vows to follow science (Philadelphia Inquirer)
EPA Pick… Bold Promises, Will She Keep Them? (Tort Deform)
A new Lisa on life (Grist)
Obama choices widely hailed (Treehugger)
For our earlier coverage of the Jackson nomination and the controversy it stirred up among environmental organizations, see: Lisa Jackson’s EPA confirmation hearing