NSBE - Fall 2009 - 42

Lisa Jackson Goes to Washington Continued from page 41 JAckSON: The President is committed to a comprehensive green energy plan that will create millions of jobs and break our addiction to foreign oil, and will clean up greenhouse gas. They will be jobs that look at energy efficiency: electrical engineering; materials engineering to make solar panels and lightweight materials, to make things more efficient; nuclear engineering, which is often overlooked, but provided we continue to embrace nuclear energy, there’s a severe shortage of nuclear engineers. Environmental engineering is important. It’s definitely grown as a specialty. I think classic project engineering: We need the way a systems engineer thinks. …Pretty much everything we do involves engineers. Our water policies: the stimulus that the president proposed had $6 billion for water and wastewater infrastructure. There’s a huge uptick in investing in water treatment plants. So there will be a demand for anybody thinking of ways to deal with water. Civil engineers: As we talk about climate changes, there are more floods, more droughts. We’re working on getting water away from areas that may be more flood prone, designing buildings to withstand storms. Climate change impacts on the air side: We are seeing lower and lower levels of contamination in air. There’s a continued need to install air pollution control on smokestacks. The Obama Administration is looking to lower the levels of air pollution, so someone needs to design air pollution control measures. There should be more jobs for those finding ways to clean the air. Engineers are needed to reduce diesel pollution, reduce lead contamination and clean up brownfields. NSBE: Did being an African-American woman in the field of engineering toughen you up for the jobs you’ve had? Was your experience as a double minority in a field dominated by white men good boot camp for your current job? JAckSON: If you’re an African-American female engineer, you get used to being a ceiling breaker. I am tough when I need to be, but I get along with folks. I grew up in New Orleans. …I had jobs working for oil companies to put myself through college. …At its heart, an engineer is a problem solver. …I think one of the things that has helped me stand out in my career, as a scientist, as an engineer: I’ve looked for solutions to problems. NSBE: Have you drawn from your experience 42 • nsbe magazine as an engineer to impact or implement public policy? If so, how? JAckSON: Every day. Engineers are pragmatic. One of my first questions, in this job and other jobs, is, “Can it be done?” We can come up with a standard. EPA has a huge hand in auto emissions. The president just announced a national fuel efficiency policy designed to increase fuel economy and reduce greenhouse gases (announced May 19, 2009). The EPA has a lab in Ann Arbor, Mich., to test engines. The engineers in that lab know more about fuel-efficient cars than many private companies. The issue around the contamination of the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Katrina: We bring all those experiences to our job. ■ Theresa Sullivan Barger is a freelance business writer and a former editor and business writer at The Hartford Courant. Administrator Jackson during her first day on the job, January 2009 with first lady of the united states michelle obama, during the first lady’s visit to speak to EpA employees. talking with children from Boys & girls clubs of America about saving energy in their homes, on the national mall in D.c. • fall 2009 www.nsbe.org

NSBE - Fall 2009

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