Klee: Time for industrial ecology

Photo | Pablo Robles Robert Klee got his bachelor's degree in geology and earth sciences from Princeton University before going to Yale for his masters, law degree, and Ph.D. He was a research fellow at the Yale University Center for Industrial Ecology from 2006 to 2008.

Photo | Pablo Robles Klee, unlike his predecessor, keeps a bowl of candy on the conference table in his office at DEEP, located on Elm Street in downtown Hartford.

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New state Department of Energy & Environmental Protection commissioner Rob Klee says Connecticut's industries need to do a better job of functioning more like nature.

Klee said most industries now dig up natural resources, use them, and throw them away, as opposed to the way nature functions where everything in the waste stream is recovered for productive use.

As a Yale Ph.D. in forestry and environmental studies, Klee said his background in industrial ecology will guide him and DEEP as the state strives to increase its recycling efforts and overhaul the way it treats garbage.

“I get excited about trash in ways that nobody else does,” Klee said.

Klee took over as DEEP commissioner on Feb. 3 from Dan Esty, who grew the Department of Environmental Protection into the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. As Esty's chief of staff, Klee's appointment to commissioner was seen largely as a continuation of Esty's and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's efforts to develop an energy strategy that benefits the economy and the environment.

Rather than revolutionizing Connecticut's attitude toward energy and the environment — as Esty did — Klee will play the role of executor, making sure all these new ideas and laws are brought to their full potential.

“That is a major theme for me, 'Getting stuff done,'” said Klee, who was an appellate attorney for New Haven law firm Wiggin and Dana before becoming Esty's chief of staff. “The policies and programs don't change, because they are from the governor.”

Those policies are centered around making electricity and heating cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable. For the foreseeable future, this includes programs subsidizing renewable energy installations, buying power from clean electricity power plants, expanding the natural gas distribution system, doubling energy efficiency spending, growing the electric vehicle infrastructure, and working with Malloy and the rest of the New England governors to add new natural gas pipelines and electric transmission lines.

One of the issues coming to the forefront this year is the waste stream and how to increase the recycling rate. Connecticut currently recycles about 25 percent of its trash; the state's industries will have to leave the old ways of using and discarding resources behind if the recycling percentage is going to climb, Klee said.

“That does not fit into an ecological system,” Klee said. “There are a lot of materials in that waste stream that can be put to better use.”

The state already made some strides moving toward recycling food waste, construction debris, and specific products like paint and mattresses. All these efforts impact the state's trash-to-energy industry, where the non-recycled waste is burned for electricity.

With more of their fuel being diverted and electricity prices dropping, the trash-to-energy plants are struggling, particularly the Hartford facility run by the quasi-state agency Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority.

Malloy has proposed legislation this year that will pare down the CRRA's responsibility to focus more on recycling and seek to redevelop the Hartford plant into something more modern.

“The waste industry is challenged,” said Macky McCleary, DEEP deputy commissioner. “We have an opportunity now. We have a crisis, so how do we lay the groundwork for the next 40 years?”

Klee said these changes, particularly increased recycling, will help lower tipping fees for trash disposal for commercial users and municipalities.

“This is an opportunity to really change the dynamics,” Klee said.

During his time as commissioner, Klee said he will continue to strengthen the agency's relationship with the business community. Before Esty started, environmental protection was notorious for its long permit processing times and frustrating bureaucracy. Under Esty, the permit backlog was almost entirely eliminated and the permit wait time reduced to a couple of months.

Klee said he is working with McCleary and other DEEP officials to develop metrics for agency efficiency to showcase to the business community. The goal will be quicker processing and standardization for environmental permit applications.

“A quick 'No' is better than a 'Maybe' or a 'Yes' two years later,” Klee said. “That helps businesses figure out the right way to get to 'Yes' in the most efficient way.”

The business-friendly upgrades include getting more services online, such as underground storage tank applications and stormwater permits. Klee wants to change the web database for filings with the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority for easier use and navigation, and he wants to put more of DEEP's historic paperwork on cases and permits online.

“We are building a modernized, more transparent, easier-to-interact-with agency,” Klee said.

Klee lives in New Haven with Anne, his wife of 10 years, and their sons Alex, 6, and Jacob, 4.

Klee said his new role will enable him to use the state's parks system more, and his first official event as commissioner was attending a No Child Left Inside winter festival in Torrington.

“I am going to be the first camping commissioner,” Klee said.