Professor Dan Esty of the Yale Law School and Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies was recently appointed to head the new Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) in Connecticut. This centralized department consolidates the state’s Departments of Public Utility Control and Environmental Protection. Esty’s goal is to establish dependable data so that environmental policies can be based on these results. He has helped develop the Environmental Sustainability Index, a composite index that tracks a diverse set of socioeconomic, environmental, and institutional indicators to characterize environmental sustainability on the national scale. His research ranges from managing global environmental policies to measuring how businesses can affect environmental issues. Esty has also worked with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), created an environmental consulting firm, and written several books on bridging environmental policy with business strategy.
As the head of DEEP, Esty hopes to develop energy policies that will improve the state’s economy and increase employment. He announced at a press conference that “the state is undoubtedly in a period when [it] needs to make serious changes to [its] energy policies that are fully engaged with a target of lowering costs for both individuals and businesses.” Creating new environmental standards and “fixing the state’s energy system” will create new jobs in Connecticut. Esty’s appointment by Governor Dannel Malloy represents the state’s promising initiative to improve its environmental standards and stimulate its economy.