EPA to use best available science again

It's official: the Environmental Protection Agency is going to start using the best available science as the basis for its decisions again.

Lisa Jackson, President-elect Barack Obama's pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency, pledged Wednesday that decisions at the agency will be based on science and the law and not politics.

Jackson's opening statement at her Senate confirmation hearing was the clearest signal yet that the Obama administration plans to take the agency in a different direction. The Bush administration at times ignored the advice of scientific experts on decisions ranging from global warming to air pollution.

"Science must be the backbone of what EPA does," said Jackson. "EPA's addressing of scientific decisions should reflect the expert judgment of the agency's career scientists."

This is good news amidst the drudgery of the economic crisis. Let's hope that the new administration makes good on Obama's promise to combine the goals of economic recovery and environmental protection into a single, paramount objective. The EPA will have a critical role to play in the years ahead. It's heartening to see capable hands at the helm again after eight years of regress.