Amid Controversy, Esty Adjusts To New Role In DEEP

Former Yale professor Dan Esty says he is growing into his new role as state environment and energy commissioner, despite a series of controversies over his prior ties to business. WNPR's Patrick Skahill has more.

For years, Dan Esty was a teacher. But as head of the DEEP, Esty says he's once again a student.

"I get that I'm in a different realm now. And I've got to learn to play in that domain and understand that the scrutiny that is there is much greater than I'm used to."

Part of that scrutiny was over money accepted for speaking engagements. From 2006 to 2011 Esty made $1.2 million in speaking fees. He says he's no longer accepting any payment for speeches.

Esty has also been criticized over a landswap in Haddam, a clean up case in Milford and his intervention in a utilities decision. But speaking on WNPR's the Colin McEnroe Show, Esty said there are cases people don't know about where he's working to clamp down on businesses and protect public health.

"Yeah, there's lots of stuff going on behind the scenes, but as you know, when you're the sheriff you don't pull the trigger out in front of the crowd, you've got to do it carefully and in a way that makes sense from the public point of view. So it's hard to talk about a lot of the cases where we are cracking down hard on people, because they are going on behind the scenes according to appropriate legal process."

Esty said partnering with businesses instead of over-regulating them will continue to be part of his approach as commissioner. And he said he still needs to work on public relations.

"I've made mistakes. I have not communicated in a way that I think tells the story in a full or rounded way."

For WNPR news I'm Patrick Skahill.