Articles by Kate Sheppard

Senate confirms Jackson as EPA chief

President Obama's "green team" is nearly complete, as the Senate on Thursday confirmed Lisa Jackson to run the Environmental Protection Agency and Nancy Sutley to head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

Senators also approved Ray LaHood as Secretary of Transportation. All three officials were confirmed by voice vote.

Jackson's appointment had been in limbo, as reports suggested that a Republican senator, John Barrasso of Wyoming, was blocking it until he received some clarity about Carol Browner's role as Obama's top adviser on climate and energy issues. Barrasso later consented to allowing the confirmation to proceed after talking to Browner, according to a spokesperson for the Environment and Public Works Committee, which was managing the confirmation. (Barrasso told TPM the same thing).

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chair of the Senate panel, issued a statement immediately after the confirmation praising her colleagues for approving Sutley and Jackson. "I am really pleased that the Senate has taken the first steps toward restoring the EPA and CEQ to their proper role as organizations that fight to protect the health of our families and the safety of our air, our water and our planet," said Boxer. "Lisa Jackson and Nancy Sutley are well qualified to lead the Environmental Protection Agency and the Council on Environmental Quality, and they respect and understand that their organizations' mission is to protect public health and the environment."

The Senate has not yet acted on Obama's nomination of Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.) to run the Department of Labor. Solis has said she will use her post to champion the creation of "green jobs."

Salazar taps Clinton's deputy secretary as his own, and other Interior news

Clinton-era deputy interior secretary David Hayes has been tapped to reprise that role in the Obama administration, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced on Thursday. Hayes led Obama's transition efforts for the Interior Department as well as the EPA, USDA, and the Energy Department.

Hayes is a partner at the law firm and lobby shop Latham & Watkins, where he is the "global chair" of the Environment, Land & Resources Department. From that post, he lobbied on behalf of Sempra Energy in 2006.

He is currently a senior fellow at the World Wildlife Fund, a senior fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute, and vice chair of the board at American Rivers. Hayes has also served as chair of the board of the Environmental Law Institute.

In other Interior news, Salazar met with department employees on Thursday to talk about his plans for the agency. "We will ensure Interior Department decisions are based on sound science and the public interest and not special interests," he said.

Barrasso reportedly abandons opposition to Jackson appointment

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) has consented to forward movement on the confirmation of Lisa Jackson, Obama's nominee for EPA administrator, a spokesperson for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee tells Grist. The Senate is now likely to confirm Jackson this evening.

"It's our understanding that she has cleared any objections and she should be able to be confirmed later today," said the spokesperson. "It should not be a further problem."

Barrasso had been holding up the process over concerns that White House energy and climate adviser Carol Browner might interfere with the EPA's work. Barrasso has now spoken with about Browner about her role in the new administration, according to the committee spokesperson, and apparently his concerns have been resolved.

UPDATE: TPM is reporting that it may be some other Senate Republican holding up the confirmation, not Barrasso or climate change skeptic James Inhofe (R-Okla.). We're keeping an eye on Senate action to see what transpires tonight.

House speaker now says she wants a climate bill passed by December

Backtracking on comments made earlier this month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) now says she intends to schedule a vote on a climate bill before December, when world leaders are slated to meet in Copenhagen to hammer out a successor to the Kyoto climate pact.

Speaking to Bay Area reporters on Wednesday, Pelosi said she intends to have a cap-and-trade bill passed before the U.N.-sponsored summit, according to a report in today's San Francisco Chronicle. The legislation, she said, would help bring in funds to support other green initiatives.

"I believe we have to because we see that as a source of revenue," she said. "Cap-and-trade is there for a reason. You cap and you trade so you can pay for some of these investments in energy independence and renewables."

The collective environmental movement nearly had a melt down a few weeks ago when Pelosi said that while she has the votes to pass a climate bill in the House, it might not happen in 2009.

"I'm not sure this year, because I don't know if we'll be ready," Pelosi said in a press conference on Jan. 6. "We won't go before we're ready."

Henry Waxman (D-Calif), whose Energy and Commerce Committee is likely to lead any House action on climate legislation, said last week that he intends to have a climate bill ready by Memorial Day.