By Nicholas Katzban, The Record
Shawn LaTourette (Photo: Nicholas Huba, Press of Atlantic City)
Shawn LaTourette, the acting commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection, has been nominated by Gov. Phil Murphy to take over the role full time.
LaTourette has led the agency since his predecessor, Catherine R. McCabe, retired in January.
“New Jersey has no shortage of environmental challenges — from confronting the climate crisis to modernizing our water infrastructure,” LaTourette said. “NJDEP is charting a new course for the future in our great state, with a stronger, more just environment at its center.”
Murphy’s nomination will require confirmation by the state Senate.
LaTourette has a 20-year record fighting for equity and the environment. A New Jersey native and graduate of Rutgers and Rutgers Law School, he initially worked with Erin Brokovich’s law firm, defending New Jersey communities whose tap water had been spoiled by petrochemicals.
Related environmental news stories:
Murphy moves to make acting DEP boss permanent (NJ Spotlight)
Gov. Murphy nominates Shawn LaTourette as Commissioner (AC Press)
Statements on Shawn LaTourette nomination (NJ Globe)
Atlantic County ELC meeting with Shawn LaTourette, (NJBIA/YouTube)
NJDEP’s LaTourette defends land-use plan against attack (NJ Spotlight)
Before joining the Murphy administration, he was most recently a director of the Environmental Law Department at Gibbons PC, where he focused on brownfields redevelopment projects and litigated environmental cases in state and federal court.
He arrived at New Jersey’s DEP with McCabe in 2018, eventually becoming deputy commissioner.
LaTourette will be the first openly gay state environmental commissioner in the U.S. He chaired LGBTQ rights activities for the New Jersey Bar Association until last year.
Christian Fuscarino, executive director of the LGBTQ rights group Garden State Equality, said LaTourette’s nomination is welcome “at a time when the New Jersey Legislature is empty from any representation for the LGBTQ community.”
The commissioner is not a member of the Legislature, but can affect policy.
Likewise, LaTourette has garnered the support of New Jersey environmental groups such as the Audubon Society, Clean Water Action, New Jersey Future, and the League of Conservation Voters. Those groups praised LaTourette for his aggressive actions on pollutants that ravage the waterways of underserved communities of color, developing an Energy Master Plan, and working to reverse climate change.
Notably absent from the list of supporters was the New Jersey Sierra Club. (See statement below).
LaTourette’s predecessor, McCabe, offered no reason when she announced her retirement in December.
Murphy said at the time that McCabe had “a very particular family-driven reason” for her departure but did not elaborate, according to previous reports.
Statement of the New Jersey Sierra Club
Shawn Latourette has been named Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, released the following statement:
“The Governor has decided to name Shawn Latourette as DEP Commissioner. This is not a surprise since he was named Acting Commissioner by the Governor and has held the position of Chief of Staff. He is a known quantity to the administration and was a favorite to get the job, and he did get it. He’s very sharp politically, and he’s someone we can work with, but we do have some concerns. He doesn’t have a government background and has never run an agency or managed anything like the DEP, so that could create some challenges.
“We have concerns that Latourette has lobbied for clients in front of DEP. He’s actually had to recuse himself on a number of issues because of companies that he has worked for. He will be the first DEP Commissioner in New Jersey’s history who lobbied in front of the DEP for applicants. We also have concerns about some of his positions on issues, and we hope that he follows through on Governor Murphy’s commitments on Environmental Justice and equity for the state.
“We were hoping for a DEP Commissioner who had a stronger background in Environmental Justice and who came from an EJ Community. However, we know that Shawn does make this a top concern. At today’s budget hearing, he refused to answer about having a moratorium on fossil fuels, even in overburdened and Environmental Justice communities. We’ve also disagreed with him on issues like logging at Sparta Mountain, burning of CF4 at the Rahway Incinerator, streamlining permits, regulating CO2 and meeting the IPCC goal of 45% reductions by 2030, stopping Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD), and allowing developers to ‘build at your own risk’ in flood risk zones. We have a good dialogue and working relationship, but we do have serious concerns.
“Shawn Latourette has worked within the DEP for a few years, and he’s working on many issues. He’s been carrying out the work of the administration, but we hope that they can go further. The Murphy Administration needs to take the climate emergency more seriously and move faster to strengthen our rules. They not only need to fix Christie’s rollbacks but move DEP forward when it comes to integrating climate impacts into rules and regulations. They also need to move faster to get the Environmental Justice Rules in place while helping to reduce pollution from existing facilities. Shawn has been appointed by Governor Murphy to carry out his agenda, so the Governor needs to step up to make stronger commitments and move New Jersey forward. We hope that Shawn can actually help modernize the DEP and move them forward when it comes to protecting the environment and tackling these issues of Environmental Justice, climate change, moving forward with renewable energy, and getting rid of fossil fuels.”
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