EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to Step Down

The president praises her work combating climate change and pollution.

Lisa P. Jackson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency during President Barack Obama’s first term, has announced that she will be stepping down from the post next month.

No successor was immediately named to replace Jackson, the first African American to ever head the agency.

In a statement released Thursday by the White House, the president praised Jackson's work combating climate change under the Clean Air Act and for playing a key role in establishing fuel economy standards to help bring down gas prices. Obama also praised Jackson for “implementing the first national standard for harmful mercury pollution.”

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