Former DEP head rendered ineffective
According to several reports, John Quigley combined a passion for environmental issues with a matching level of prickliness that alienated many of those who could have helped advance the causes that he cared about.
That is more than likely why Quigley resigned Friday as the secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection after a brief meeting with Gov. Tom Wolf. It followed an email message Quigley is said to have sent privately to environmental groups that criticized the governor for backing off on new oil, gas and clean-air regulations because of pressure from legislators. The email also apparently took the groups to task for not lobbying hard enough for the regulations.
The email message to the environmental groups helped stoke suspicions that critical ads taken out against two Democratic state senators who voted against Wolf’s environmental proposals – John Yudickak of Luzerne County and John Blake of Lackawanna County – were carried out at Quigley’s behest. One unnamed source among Democrats in the state Senate told the website PennLive that the ads were viewed as “aggravating in general, and if it was stirred up by a cabinet member, it’s beyond the pale.”
In the end, another source told PennLive Quigley “had soured so many relationships with so many people, it had become impossible for him to do his job.” In the wake of Quigley’s resignation, Patrick McDonnell has been named acting secretary. McDonnell had been the department’s policy director.
Being passionate about your job is one thing, but it appears as if Quigley’s sharp-elbowed approach to personal relations and policymaking rendered him ineffective. Given the oil and gas industry’s pivotal role in the commonwealth, and upcoming fights over the federal Clean Power Plan, the Department of Environmental Protection needs a leader who can effectively advocate for the Wolf administration’s positions while mollifying its opponents.
From all indications, Quigley was not that person.