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EPA’s Lisa P. Jackson on The Daily Show

EPA administrator Lisa P. Jackson was on The Daily Show last night to talk about the politics surrounding her agency, at one point calling Washington D.C. a ​“fact-free zone” that is out of touch with Americans.
By Ken Paulman

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EPA administrator Lisa P. Jackson was on The Daily Show last night to talk about the politics surrounding her agency, at one point calling Washington D.C. a ​“fact-free zone” that is out of touch with Americans.

Some highlights:

On opposition to mercury regulations for power plants: ​“The only thing we hear is ​‘it can’t be done,’ when everything we know and every model that we run shows that it absolutely can be done, and that it would actually create jobs. Someone has to build all those scrubbers and filters that deal with mercury.”

On being hauled before Congress: ​“I have testified more times in this Congress than any other cabinet member. I don’t mind going up there. … You should know that your Congress put more riders on the EPA than any other agency.”

On inside-the-Beltway politics: ​“I sometimes call it the ​‘fact-free zone.’ Outside Washington, 95 percent of the American people … see one of the roles of government as protecting their air and water. … And yet time and time again, we’re having to go onto the Hill, oftentimes with people who privately tell me, ​‘hey, I’m for the environment,’ and then they say ​‘but…’ and the ​‘but’ is a set of talking points from industry.”

The full interview is posted below in two parts (part 1 is what ran on the air):

Ken Paulman is the director of impact at Canary Media. He was previously the founder and director of the Energy News Network, which merged with Canary Media in 2025.

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