Professor Daniel Esty ’86 Named Commissioner of Connecticut’s Newly-Fused Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

Yale Law School Professor Daniel C. Esty ’86 has been named by Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy as commissioner of the state’s newly-consolidated Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP).

Governor Malloy made the appointment on Feb. 10, saying, “I am glad that Dan Esty has agreed to accept this challenge…His experience advising private companies and the President of the United States, coupled with his knowledge of environmental law and policy is second-to-none, and I know this new department will be on the cutting edge of environmental and energy policy with Dan at the helm.”

“It’s a great honor for Dan, and we at the Law School join in congratulating him on this remarkable achievement,” said Yale Law School Dean Robert Post ’77.

The new department will combine Connecticut’s widely dispersed energy functions, including the Department of Public Utility Control, with the Department of Environmental Protection to allow for a more effective coordination of state energy and environmental policies. It will enable the state to closely couple its environmental conservation and regulation functions with energy policy and pricing.

“It is an honor to have been selected to lead this newly-formed agency, especially as it undergoes a major transition,” Esty said. “The state is undoubtedly in a period when we need to make serious changes to our energy policies that are fully engaged with a target of lowering costs for both individuals and businesses. The job creation benefits that will result from fixing the state’s energy system are a significant factor in boosting economic development here at home.”

Esty is the Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy at Yale as well as director of the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy and the Center for Business and the Environment at Yale. One of the world’s leading experts on environmental strategy, he has advised executives from companies around the world on environment and sustainability issues and advised President Obama’s campaign and Transition Team on energy and environmental issues. He is a former senior official at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a 1986 graduate of Yale Law School.