Apple Announces New Upgrade: Former EPA Chief Lisa Jackson

The first black chief administrator of EPA is now working to green up Apple.

By Brentin Mock May 29, 2013

Former EPA chief Lisa Jackson will be vice president for environmental initiatives at web products company Apple. CEO Tim Cook announced the Jackson hire during a live interview he gave during the D11: All Things Digital conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Jackson will "be coordinating [environmental] efforts across the company," and will report directly to Cook.

Jackson, who was the first African American EPA chief administrator, resigned after her first four-year term in February. During her time there, she made environmental justice — policies that address disproportionate environmental burdens on poor neighborhoods and communities of color — a priority for the federal government. 

Jackson told Politico about her hire: 

"Apple has shown how innovation can drive real progress by removing toxics from its products, incorporating renewable energy in its data center plans, and continually raising the bar for energy efficiency in the electronics industry. I look forward to helping support and promote these efforts, as well as leading new ones in the future aimed at protecting the environment."

Cook stated at the D11 conference that Apple’s data centers ran on 100% renewable energy and that they had the largerst solar farm of any non-utility company.

Jackson, who grew up in New Orleans, worked in government and public service for basically her entire professional career, after obtaining a Masters degree in chemical engineering from Princeton in 1986. Last month, Jackson told a story to The Moth about evacuating her mother from New Orleans after the Hurricane Katrina federal levee failures and floods. Jackson was working for New Jersey state government at the time, and she had a moment then when she realized that had she worked for the private sector she could have "bought my mother a new house, or raised the one she had." But her mother encouraged her to remain in public service.

Perhaps now, a new house is in the works.