What Next?
Posted on January 21st, 2009 - 10:30 AM
Each week we write about the science behind environmental protection. Previous Science Wednesdays.
About the Author: Aaron Ferster is the science writer-editor in EPA’s Office of Research and Development, and the Science Wednesday Editor.
A few weeks ago I noticed the crosswalk I traverse to get from the office to the local coffee joint had a fresh coat of deep red paint. Then its dingy, frayed stripes were replaced with new ones, screaming white and perhaps twice as wide as the originals. It was shortly after that that grandstands and a big viewing platform along Pennsylvania Avenue outside my downtown office building began to appear. And yesterday, a million porta-potties were installed along the cross streets.
Washington, DC is bracing for a big party.
Preparations for the Presidential Inaugural parade and other festivities are in full swing. It’s an exciting time to be working here. Clearly, that excitement is also being felt in other places, because I’ve been getting lots e-mails from out-of-town friends asking me what’s going on around town.
They also ask how much different I expect my job to be once the up-coming “changing of the guard” is complete. Good question. But as this is my first Presidential transition while here at EPA, I can’t really predict.
It’s easier to be certain about what I know won’t change. As a science writer, I fully expect to continue to work with lots of busy scientists and engineers to communicate what they do, and why it’s important. Science and research play a critical role in helping EPA meet its primary mission: protecting the natural environment and safeguarding human health.
Lisa P. Jackson, President Obama’s choice for EPA Administrator, said “science must be the backbone of what EPA does” during her confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate. Exciting stuff, and I’m eager to help tell the EPA science story. But first I’ll be meeting a few million of my closest friends at a parade.
Tags: inauguration, Science Wednesday
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Question of the Week
January 21st, 2009 at 8:28 pm
As this article looks forward towards the new Administration, I would like Ms. Jackson to know how important those of us who live around the Chesapeake Bay think it is to get urgent action on this very important body of water that impacts on the lives of people in Virginia, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia.
Washington, D.C. is at the very center of the Chesapeake watershed. The Potomac and Anacostia rivers are tidal sub-estuaries of the Chesapeake. This is the Nation’s Bay, and its condition is a national disgrace. EPA and its federal partners can be instrumental in launching real improvement if they seize the opportunity and demonstrate leadership.
There is no better place to show that the Obama Administration is serious about clean air and clean water. More than ninety percent of the Bay and tidal tributary rivers that feed it are officially designated as impaired under the Clean Water Act. EPA must institute a strict pollution reduction budget with penalties for non-compliance immediately. In fact, the Clean Water Act requires it.
More information on proposals to help clean up the bay, can be gotten from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
Good luck Ms. Jackson in your confirmation and in your future work.
Regards.
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