WASHINGTON - Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson will resign her position. The announcement, made Dec. 27, follows almost four years of controversy during EPA's efforts in regulating global warming and pollution issues, including boiler emissions and biomass, which impacted the wood products and other industries.

Jackson did not give a deadline on her resignation, saying only that it will occur after President Obama's State of the Union address in January.

In a statement made Thursday, Jackson said, "I want to thank President Obama for the honor he bestowed on me and the confidence he placed in me four years ago this month when he announced my nomination as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. At the time I spoke about the need to address climate change, but also said: 'There is much more on the agenda: air pollution, toxic chemicals and children’s health issues, redevelopment and waste-site cleanup issues, and justice for the communities who bear disproportionate risk.'

"As the President said earlier this year when he addressed EPA’s employees, 'You help make sure the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat are safe. You help protect the environment not just for our children but their children. And you keep us moving toward energy independence…We have made historic progress on all these fronts.' So, I will leave the EPA confident the ship is sailing in the right direction, and ready in my own life for new challenges, time with my family and new opportunities to make a difference," she said.

In response to Jackson's resignation, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune stated, “On behalf of the Sierra Club and our 2.1 million members and supporters, I want to express our deep gratitude to Administrator Lisa Jackson for her service to Americans who care about clean air, clean water and healthy kids. In her four years as EPA Administrator, Lisa has been a steadfast advocate for clean air, clean water, a stable climate and public health - often in the face of very vocal and forceful detractors. With her leadership, our country has made a big down payment on its goals to reduce carbon pollution. Millions of Americans will breathe easier and have access to safe, clean water. We thank Lisa for her work and wish her the very best.”

Reaction though to Jackson's work over the past four years has been mixed. “Secretary Jackson played the environmental ‘bad cop’ to President Obama’s more moderate ‘good cop,’ but the result of their tag-team effort has been a huge expansion of the EPA’s power. That’s the exact opposite of what is needed, as a stagnant economy, unnecessarily high energy prices, and higher unemployment are imposed on the nation in service of fictitious crusades such as climate change worries and nonexistent toxin threats. Appointing another bad cop to head the EPA could by itself push the nation into recession,” stated S.T. Karnick, director of research with The Heartland Institute, a non-profit organization located in Chicago.