UPDATED: Chafee Picks Coit for DEM
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Governor-elect Lincoln Chafee has picked Janet Coit to head up the Department of Environmental Management.
Coit is the director of Rhode Island's chapter of the Nature Conservancy. She is also a former Environmental Counsel to Chafee's father, John Chafee, when he was a U.S. Senator.
The announcement came after the current DEM Director W. Michael Sullivan announced he was stepping down effective Jan. 1. Sullivan told staff that he would return to his position as a professor of plant science at the University of Rhode Island, according to Gail Mastrati, a spokeswoman for the department.
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“Rhode Island is a tremendously beautiful state, and it is a common goal of all Rhode Islanders to preserve and protect our natural assets,” Chafee said. “Janet, with more than 20 years of experience working on environmental issues, is fully qualified to lead that effort. She understands, as I do, that smart, sound economic growth and environmental stewardship are not mutually exclusive. We must ensure that economic growth and environmental preservation to go hand-in-hand. We can get Rhode Island working again while also protecting our greatest resource: our state’s natural beauty. I have full faith that Janet is the right choice for this significant post.”
“I want to thank Governor-elect Chafee for giving me the opportunity to lead this important organization,” Coit said. “As Director, I look forward to recognizing and rewarding the good work being done by the many talented, engaged professionals at DEM who have proven to be committed environmental stewards.”
Environmental groups praise appointment
Several leading environmental groups yesterday applauded the appointment.
"We are very excited about the announcement of Janet Coit as the new director. She will be a superb leader," said Jonathan Stone, executive director of Save the Bay. "She brings a wealth of experience on both local and global environmental challenges, including everything from climate change causes and adaptations, to land use and conservation, water resources and conservations, and stewardship and management of public lands. This kind of experience is exactly we need in this position."
"Having worked with her as a partner organization to the Conservancy she has been an important advocate for protecting Rhode Island's last open spaces -- it's forests and parks and shoreline, etc. -- I think that under her leadership, the open space and recreation programs will be revitalized," said Laurence Taft, executive director of the Audubon Society of Rhode Island.
Stone and Taft agreed that one of Coit's top challenges will be state budget cuts that have affected the Department of Environmental Management.
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