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Another historic oath of office was taken on Tuesday, when Lisa P. Jackson was sworn in as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. A Princeton-educated chemical engineer who previously served as commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Jackson is the first African-American to lead the EPA. At a press conference earlier this week, she stood at the front of the White House's East Room as President Obama signed his first environmental policies, which she also helped design. ESSENCE.com met Jackson at her Washington office to discuss these newly instated orders, critics who slammed her appointment, and her message to Black America on why we must take a bigger part in the green movement.

ESSENCE.COM: Congratulations on being sworn in yesterday. How does it feel to officially be the EPA administrator?
LISA P. JACKSON: It really just hit me at the swearing-in. It is a feeling of extraordinary responsibility when you think about ensuring the implementation of laws that are, at the heart, geared toward the protection of human health and the environment. It's an awesome responsibility. So I am honored, but you don't have a lot of time to sit around feeling honored. You have to move on and get the job done.

ESSENCE.COM: On Monday President Obama signed two executive orders, one of which enforces strict emissions standards on automobile companies. The policy has been criticized as putting a burden on auto companies at a time when they're struggling to stay afloat. Is it irresponsible to put air pollution ahead of the dire needs of the auto industry?
JACKSON: I would frame it differently. I would say that it is a false choice, and the President has said this, it's a false choice to think you have to choose one or the other-a clean environment, a child without asthma and less smog versus a thriving auto industry. If we're going to have a thriving auto industry in this country, it's got to recognize that automobiles are, in many states, almost half of the air pollution problem. They're a huge contributor to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, and if we're going to build a vibrant sustainable industry, we have to address that.

ESSENCE.COM: The executive orders signed on Monday also allow 14 states to regulate tailpipe emissions. None of this resonated much among African-Americans. Can you explain to the Black community how these issues affect them in particular?
JACKSON: For a long time, I think the Black community thought that environmentalism is something that you worry about after some of the more pressing issues that face our community, whether it be racial prejudice or unemployment or housing or other issues that tend to be more urban-focused. But I think there is an increasing realization, and the environmental justice movement has known this for a long time, that the issues of the urban community include the environment, and that environmental protection is also community, neighborhood and family protection. The asthma rates among African-American children, for example, are very high. We need to, as a people, become more cognizant of the connection between the environment and our health, and also the environment and our economy. The future economy that may present you with getting a job may well be a green economy. Black people need to claim that economy, and realize that the opportunities for jobs are going to be in energy efficiency, in fuel efficiency, in renewable power. You have to start to move that way in the interest you show.