{"id":52003,"date":"2011-12-09T11:52:15","date_gmt":"2011-12-09T16:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=52003"},"modified":"2011-12-12T16:21:41","modified_gmt":"2011-12-12T21:21:41","slug":"environmental-world-can%e2%80%99t-function-alone-says-deep-commissioner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2011\/12\/environmental-world-can%e2%80%99t-function-alone-says-deep-commissioner\/","title":{"rendered":"Environmental World Can\u2019t Function Alone, Says DEEP Commissioner"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Daniel<\/a>
Daniel Esty, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, gives the Edwin Way Teale lecture at Konover Auditorium on Dec. 8. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Energy, environmental, and economic policy must be integrated, if society is to successfully navigate the myriad social and economic challenges of the 21st century, according to Daniel C. Esty, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Esty made his remarks during a talk, \u201cIntegrating Energy and Environmental Policy: The Path Forward for Protecting Our Natural Resources and Building our Economy\u201d at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center Dec. 8. His presentation was part of the Edwin Way Teale Lecture Series.<\/p>\n

Esty noted that Connecticut has recently realigned the state\u2019s former Department of Environmental Protection to include the Department of Public Utilities Control and an energy policy group from the state\u2019s Office of Policy and Management.<\/p>\n

This realignment is part of his goal to make an energy\/environment interface a core element of business strategy, and to assist businesses in realizing significant cost-saving opportunities through eco-efficiency.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur mission is to focus on the integration of energy and the environment,\u201d he said. \u201cThe key to success is to get other people to carry the ball downfield for you. The environmental world is too small to work alone; we need transportation forces, city planners, experts in agriculture \u2026 everyone to work together in a partnership. That\u2019s the only way we\u2019re going to get where we need to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Commissioner<\/a>
Commissioner Esty delivers the Teale lecture. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An advocate for greater transparency in government, Esty said making the regulatory burden lighter would not only help businesses, but also promote environmental protection. Among the issues he has already addressed is red-tape involved in obtaining various types of construction permits in the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not the answers [that business finds problematic], it\u2019s the unpredictability,\u201d he said. \u201cThe more transparency you have and the quicker you provide answers, a lot of business opposition to environmental protection goes away.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also called for a \u2018technology race\u2019 for renewable power in this country to ensure that a wide array of energy options get pushed to the starting gate. While not a fan of corn-based ethanol as an energy source, he said all the options must be considered, including second-generation biofuel, solar, nuclear, wind, and hydro power, as well as fossil fuel.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want the government to pick a winner,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to take advantage of opportunities in the marketplace, to engage competitive pressures to bring about energy efficiency at an affordable price.\u201d<\/p>\n

On a more local level, and in the wake of tropical storm Irene and the October snowstorm, he said the state needs to take a hard look at its infrastructure. He also advocated the establishment of micro-grids: \u00a0\u201cEvery town center should have auxiliary power for a gas station, a grocery store, a police station, and a warming center to keep critical services available for citizens in need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noting that DEEP\u2019s goals are to provide incentives, innovation, and integration in the area of environmental and economic outreach, Esty said a fourth item is needed \u2013 \u201cand that\u2019s inspiration.\u201d He said it\u2019s important to keep everyone in Connecticut, but particularly young people, engaged and excited about conservation initiatives and the importance of a sustainable environment.<\/p>\n

The Edwin Way Teale lecture series<\/a> was begun in 1995 as a joint effort on the part of faculty members and graduate students interested in environmental issues and policy. It is named after Teale<\/a>, a Connecticut author, naturalist, and photographer who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1966 for his book, Wandering Through Winter<\/em>. In 2007, the lecture series received the Joshua\u2019s Trust<\/a> Conservation Award in recognition of its outstanding conservation efforts. Lectures are held throughout the academic year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Energy, environmental, and economic policy must be integrated to navigate the challenges of the 21st century, said Daniel Esty, in a talk in the Teale Lecture series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":51986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[56],"class_list":["post-52003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-04 05:51:11","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52003"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52138,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52003\/revisions\/52138"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/51986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52003"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=52003"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=52003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}