Obama issues statement on outgoing EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson has announced she is stepping down from her position in early 2013.

Jackson was facing scrutiny for the recent revelation of her secondary e-mail account, under the pseudonym “Richard Windsor,” which she said was the name of her dog and her house.

Federal government employees are not permitted to use private email accounts for official communications – unless the emails are appropriately stored and can be tracked.

Under an "open government" link on the EPA's government website, it states: "What does it mean for government to be open? According to President Obama's Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government, it means fostering a culture of transparency, participation, and collaboration throughout the government."

The Competitive Enterprise Institute has filed a lawsuit demanding the release of the emails under the “Richard Windsor” account.

In a prepared statement, President Obama defended Jackson, saying: "Over the last four years, Lisa Jackson has shown an unwavering commitment to the health of our families and our children.

"Under her leadership, the EPA has taken sensible and important steps to protect the air we breathe and the water we drink, including implementing the first national standard for harmful mercury pollution, taking important action to combat climate change under the Clean Air Act, and playing a key role in establishing historic fuel economy standards that will save the average American family thousands of dollars at the pump, while also slashing carbon pollution.

"Lisa has been an important part of my team, and I want to thank her for her service in my administration and her tireless efforts to benefit the American people. I wish her all the best wherever her future takes her."

The Competitive Enterprise Institute said: "We believe EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has chosen the proper course by resigning. As the focus of an investigation by her agency’s own inspector general and inquiries from at least two committees of Congress, she no longer could effectively serve as administrator of the EPA.

"We also believe the timing was no accident. She claims to have told President Obama shortly after his re-election she planned to leave in early 2013, but her announcement went public just days after the Justice Department agreed – as a result of a lawsuit filed by CEI – to begin producing 12,000 emails from her 'Richard Windsor' alias account."

Before becoming EPA’s administrator, Jackson served as chief of staff to New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine and commissioner of the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. Prior to joining DEP, she worked for 16 years as an employee of the U.S. EPA.

Jackson is a graduate of Tulane University and earned a master’s degree in chemical engineering from Princeton University. She was born in Pennsylvania and grew up in New Orleans.