This week, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Director, Todd Parfitt, was named the Environmental Council of States (ECOS) President.
Established in 1993, ECOS is the national nonprofit, nonpartisan association of state and territorial environmental agency leaders. Their purpose is to improve the capability of state environmental agencies and their leaders to protect and improve human health and the environment of the United States of America.
“Together, we will have an opportunity to recognize and build upon ECOS’ record of contributing to and engaging in the most challenging environmental issues of our time,” said Parfitt. “ECOS’ opportunity to refine and clarify state and federal roles and responsibilities in our system of environmental and public health protection, to foster economic vitality, and to garner the human, intellectual, and financial capital needed to support our work is significant and pressing.”
According to an ECOS press release: “Parfitt’s areas of focus, with the ECOS membership and leaders, will include advancing the outcome-focused collaboration between states and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under ECOS’ Cooperative Federalism 2.0 effort. He also will seek to expand the 2.0 framework to ECOS’ work with other federal agencies. In addition, Parfitt will endeavor to enhance the process of measuring and assessing ECOS’ accomplishments. He and the association plan to share state stories of environmental outcomes with the public through expansion of ECOSResults.org, a soon to be launched website which was largely developed during John Linc Stine’s (outgoing president and Minnesota commissioner) tenure and through higher level engagement with the environmental media. Finally, Parfitt will advance ECOS’ focus on energy innovation and highlight how environmental agencies are playing key roles in this area.”
Parfitt will serve as the ECOS President for one year.
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