Jackson EPA nomination debate takes off
Jackson record comes under fire –
Sierra Club head shifts blame and calls Corzine “the worst environmental Governor ever”
[Update: see: Jackson Divides NJ Environmentalists – Public Praise contrasts sharply with private criticisms
http://blog.nj.com/njv_bill_wolfe/2009/01/jackson_divides_nj_environment.html ~~~ end update]
The political rhetoric over the Obama administration’s rumored nomination of Governor Jon Corzine’s Chief of Staff and former NJ Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson has migrated from the NJ press to the DC beltway and progressive blogs. Today it reached a boil. See: http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2008/12/09/corzine-lisa-jackson-remarkable/
So, lets take a closer look at the issues behind the news for the real story.
Kicking things off earlier this week, a scathing press release by the watchdog group, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) has gotten lots of DC media and blog play:
WHY LISA JACKSON SHOULD NOT RUN EPA — Disastrous Record in New Jersey Bodes Ill for Reforming EPA
http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=1136
Today, Jeff Tittel, NJ Sierra Club lobbyist responded to defend Jackson.
It’s no secret that Tittel – the sultan of the sound-bite – has pulled his punches and been a longtime cheerleader for Lisa Jackson. In one of many examples, in 2007, he applauded Jackson and Corzine’s photo op to mark the 37th anniversary of Earth Day. http://www.nj.gov/dep/newsrel/2007/07_0023.htm
Caption: At Earth Day 2007 DEP press event, Jeff Tittel (left) applauds Governor Corzine and Lisa Jackson’s (center) “Category 1 stream buffer initiative” at Stony Brook Watershed in Hopewell, NJ. After the press conference, when Tittel finally read the fine print, he then criticized numerous loopholes in the DEP rules – but not Jackson who made the policy calls on the ruleTittel let loose with this desperate whopper, as reported in The New Republic:
“Earlier this afternoon, I called Jeff Tittel, who directs the Sierra Club’s New Jersey chapter and has worked closely with Jackson on a number of environmental initiatives over the years. He quickly dubbed PEER’s press release “total crap” and criticized PEER for having little on-the-ground presence in New Jersey. In Tittel’s view, any blame for New Jersey’s mixed environmental record should rest squarely on the shoulders of, ironically, Corzine himself, whom Tittel called “the worst environmental governor we’ve ever had.”
http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/environmentandenergy/archive/2008/12/11/sorting-the-controversy-over-obama-s-epa-pick.aspx
First off, in addition to Lisa Jackson, Tittel has been a cheerleader for Corzine too – spending a July 2007 afternoon with the Governor and Al Gore in a skybox at the Meadowlands:
Caption: At a political event in NJ Meadowlands in July 2007, Jeff Tittel (left) applauds Governor Jon Corzine’s signing of the Global Warming Response Act. After Lisa Jackson failed to implement the law, Tittel called Corzine “nothing but hot air“18 months later, after Lisa Jackson failed to implement the law, Tittel curiously gave Jackson a pass and instead attacked Corzine:
“Instead of leading the fight on global warming, Governor Corzine is just adding more hot air,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the Sierra Club’s New Jersey chapter.”
Corzine nothing but hot air, enviro groups say
Thursday, September 25, 2008 http://www.northjersey.com/environment/Corzines_got_nothing_but_hot_air_enviro_groups_say.html
Tittel also provided cover and derailed criticism of Jackson for caving in to developers when she issued an Order that created the “Permit Efficiency Task Force”. Deftly diverting media attention from Jackson, Tittel instead chose to focus on and criticize the Department of Community Affairs Commissioner, ironically for the same pro-development policies Jackson embraced. See:
DEP Fast Track is Back – environmental rollbacks underway
http://blog.nj.com/njv_bill_wolfe/2008/03/dep_fast_track_is_back_environ.html
Second, his defense of Jackson makes no sense.
If Jackson is so pro-environment and Corzine is “the worst environmental governor e ever”, then why would Jackson resign from DEP to be his Chief of Staff? What does that say about Jackson? If Corzine is the worst and Jackson is green, I guess that means that Jackson has little influence. And what does that say about Corzine’s praise of Jackson as a good candidate to lead EPA?
If Jackson couldn’t stand up to NJ Democrats and defend the integrity of the NJ DEP, how is she going to stand up to the Obama White House, Congress and national polluters to lead EPA out of the ditch dug by 8 years of Bush?
But worse, Tittel’s claim that PEER has “little on-the-ground presence in New Jersey” is a bald faced lie. I’ve been PEER’s “on the ground presence” for the last 3 years.
Tittel knows I worked for PEER. He also knows I’ve been “on the ground” working on NJ environmental issues since 1985. He also knows that the national PEER office press release was based on my work holding Jackson accountable for the last 3 years. He also knows I’ve recently left PEER for a new job (at Pew), and can not talk to reporters or go on the record to rebut his cover stories. Or maybe he thinks he can spin the DC press corps and it won’t get back to NJ.
As to the substance of Jackson’s record and whether the PEER press release is “crap”, readers can review all the documents on the Jackson record and then decide for themselves. Each one of these PEER reports provides links to supporting DEP documents. Here’s the link:
http://www.peer.org/state/state_info.php?sid=nj
Oh, and pictures don’t lie – Tittel – who just called Corzine “the worst environmental Governor ever”- praised Corzine on the environment as recently as March 23, 2008 – that’s Jeff on the far right and Lisa Jackson on the left, handing out pens.
At a political event, Jeff Tittel (far right) applauds Governor’s Corzine’s March 25, 2008 signing of horseshoe crab moratorium bill to preserve migratory birds, notably, red knot.And just for the record, although you wouldn’t know it from reading the Jackson cheerleading in the press, the NJ Chapter of Sierra Club:
1) endorsed Jon Corzine for Governor in 2005
2) testified in opposition to the “Regional Green House Gas Initiative” (RGGI) cap and trade legislation negotiated by Lisa Jackson
3) testified in opposition to the Permit Extension Act negotiated by Lisa Jackson
4) testified in opposition to a Lisa Jackson’s legislation to privatize the DEP toxic waste cleanup program
Just the facts.
