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The Connecticut Commissioner of Environment and Energy has recused himself from doing work related to General Electric and to more than two dozen other companies. As WNPR’s Nancy Cohen reports this means Dan Esty will not weigh in on the clean up of the Housatonic River.
Before taking the job as Commissioner, Dan Esty directed the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policyand was co-director of the Center for Business and the Environment at Yale. Esty says he recused himself from working on any issues related to General Electric because he knew a number of G.E. officials and had received funding from the GE Foundationfor his projects at Yale. Esty even wrote about G.E.’s battle over PCB clean up in the Hudson River in one of his books.
“All of that made it prudent to insure I was in no way seen as making decisions on a company that I’ve had some close relationships with.”
Esty’s Chief of Staff, Robert Klee, who has a doctorate from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, will take Esty’s place as the point person on the clean up of the Housatonic River.
Esty has also recused himself from working on projects with 27* other organizations and businesses including: Nestle Waters, Dow Chemical, The Nature Conservancy and Connecticut Fund for the Environment. He says the fact that he understands how businesses think about the environment will help, not hamper, his work as commissioner.
“The truth of the matter is that I have a much deeper understanding of how businesses think about the environment from my past work as an academic. And I’ve also got an understanding of the business environment relationship that’s informed by having actually worked with companies on their efforts to bring environment and sustainability into strategy.”
The D.E.E.P. says the agency remains committed to protecting Connecticut’s interests in any clean up of PCBs from the Housatonic River. The agency has been advocating for a clean up that removes enough PCBs so that fish are safe enough to eat.
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*Commissioner Dan Esty’s Recusal List
Alcoa
BP
CH2M Hill
Coca-Cola Enterprises
Connecticut Fund for the Environment
Disney
ESPN
Dow Chemical
FedEx
General Electric
IBM
Ingersoll-Rand
Johnson & Johnson
Motorola
Naya Waters
Nestle Waters
Nokia
Procter & Gamble
Personal Care Products Council
SC Johnson
Scotts Miracle-Gro
The Nature Conservancy
Timex
Unilever
Walmart
Waste Management
Yale University
Xerox
