White House environmental adviser Van Jones resigns

White House environmental adviser Van Jones resigned early Sunday after serious questions were raised about his past activism, including questioning the official story about 9/11.

Jones said in a statement that “I am resigning my post at the Council on Environmental Quality, effective today.

“On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me. They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide….

“But I came here to fight for others, not for myself. I cannot in good conscience ask my colleagues to expend precious time and energy defending or explaining my past. We need all hands on deck, fighting for the future.”

Van Jones was called out for two previous past activities: as well as signing a petition that questioned whether Bush administration officials allowed 9/11 to happen as a pretext for war, he also is reported to have used a “crude term” to describe Republicans in a past speech.

The White House said in a statement that it thanked Jones “for his valuable contributions to the Council on Environmental Quality. Over the last six months he has been a strong voice for creating 21st century jobs that improve energy efficiency and utilize renewable resources. We appreciate his hard work and wish him the best moving forward.”