Charleston , Kanawha County , West Virginia

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson’s resignation generated cheers from the coal industry that had criticized her tenure.

While some in the environmental community praised Jackson's efforts, she only received a lukewarm review from author, environmentalist and mountaintop removal opponent Denise Giardina. Jackson announced Thursday she was stepping down. Giardina said Jackson did do a better job than several other administrators in enforcing some laws, but she scoffed at claims by West Virginia Coal Association President Bill Raney who blamed Jackson and the agency for coal's decline in Appalachia.

“I just don't see any indication the Obama administration is interested in enforcing the law any more than any other federal administration has been and the coal industry has really always flouted the law and broken the law and that's not going to change either as far as I can see, " Giardina said.

The Charleston environmentalist does not expect who takes the position will change much. Jackson will step down in January.

Meanwhile, former Massey Energy Boss Don Blankenship has a different take on Jackson's EPA. Blankenship said that the EPA has been neither sensible nor reasonable and can fairly be blamed for the loss of American jobs and an increase in worldwide pollution.

Below is the content of a letter that Blankenship has posted on his website about Jackson’s departure:

“The head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Lisa Jackson, announced she will be leaving the agency. The president praised Jackson saying she has "taken sensible and reasonable steps." The truth is that the EPA has been neither sensible nor reasonable and can fairly be blamed for the loss of American jobs and an increase in worldwide pollution.

To me, the EPA has meant "Equal Poverty for All" in America for at least the past two decades. The passage of the 1990 Clean Air Act effectively allowed the EPA to become an agency gone wild. The EPA is a bureaucracy unchecked by science, engineering or common sense that has played a major role in preventing American workers from being able to compete in a world marketplace.

Lisa Jackson and the unaccountable bureaucrats at EPA like to brag about how much cleaner the air is, but it is simply not true that the air is cleaner. By forcing the export of American manufacturing jobs to Asia, India, Mexico and the like, the EPA has effectively lost control of pollutant emissions and the global population is breathing lower quality air as a result. Lisa Jackson's "cleaner air" actually contains more mercury emissions, more sulphur emissions, and more arsenic emissions -- not less. Her tenure has been, literally, toxic for the world's atmosphere and water supply.

Lisa Jackson's departure from the EPA is an opportunity for the Congress to re-evaluate the agency's mission, management and purpose. The EPA remains a threat to American workers in manufacturing, mining, farming, and even in service industries. Congress must provide greater oversight and less funding for the EPA until this agency "gone wild" demonstrate a concern for American workers.

Yes, the EPA must first be for America and its workers. They must learn that a person without a job and unable to provide for their family cannot enjoy an improved physical environment and a country that goes bankrupt cannot lead the world to improved environmental stewardship. The EPA has epitomized and supported the "greeniac" movement in this country and the result is a reg-cession. The reg-cession impacts are being hidden by a trillion dollars a year in government excess spending. The only hope for fixing this budget problem is economic growth and that growth cannot occur at an adequate rate until the EPA is brought under control.”

The key to the re-birth of American manufacturing is our being able to compete. We must become "competitionists," which starts with evaluating what regulations and legislative actions have done and are doing to our ability to compete and to provide jobs for Americans.

How To Contact WCHS-TV8 | Privacy Policy | FCC Public File | Terms and Conditions | DMCA Policy | Frequently Asked Questions

Home | Eyewitness News Newsroom | Storm Team Weather | Eyewitness Sports | Schedules

---

Send email to news@wchstv.com for information or comments concerning WCHS-TV Eyewitness News.

Copyright ©2013, WCHS-TV8. Portions are
Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or distributed.