The head of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection, Michael Krancer, announced recently he will be leaving the agency on April 15 to return to Blank Rome, an influential Philadelphia law firm where he worked during the 1990′s.
Krancer will become chair of Blank Rome’s Energy, Petrochemical and Natural Resources Practice, where he will be, “enhancing the firm’s existing energy and public policy talent and advising US and global energy clients,” according to a Blank Rome press release.
Governor Corbett’s deputy chief of staff, Christopher Abruzzo, will serve as acting DEP secretary until a replacement is named.
Krancer has been a controversial figure, leading the DEP at a critical time through the expansion of gas drilling the Marcellus Shale. He has clashed the federal Environmental Protection Agency, and been criticized by environmentalists for his pro-industry stance. Recently, he’s been reluctant to embrace the scientific consensus surrounding climate change.
Read more of this story via StateImpact Pennsylvania.
