Wind energy advocate named to lead New York environmental agency

Hochul selects former Albany aide as next DEC commissioner

By James M. Odato

Former state official Amanda Lefton, who helped build the case for the $4.2 billion environmental bond act of 2022, is in line to become the next commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Gov. Kathy Hochul chose the Capital Region resident and wind-energy advocate to lead the key agency charged with protecting land, water and air in New York.

Lefton, 39, an environmental administrator in the Biden administration and a top secretary to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, would succeed Basil Seggos. A former U.S. Army captain and lawyer, Seggos took over the 3,000-employee department at about the same age as Lefton and served under Cuomo and Hochul as the longest-reigning DEC leader. 

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If confirmed by the state Senate as expected, Lefton would take over the post filled by Interim Commissioner Sean Mahar since Seggos left last spring.

She brings experience interacting with the Legislature, local governments and the private sector, having worked as an aide in the state Senate and Assembly and with nonprofits. As the assistant energy/environment secretary for Cuomo, she helped build the case for the $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act that was passed in November 2022 after Cuomo stepped down and ceded his job to Hochul. 

Assemblyman Matthew Simpson, R-Glens Falls, said he met Lefton during the planning of the bond act. He worked with her when he was president of the Adirondack Association of Towns & Villages and was impressed with her knowledge of issues important to the Adirondacks.

Seggos said he interacted with her as commissioner and believes she is well-prepared to take over the job he held from 2015 until April 2024.

Gerry Delaney, executive director of the Adirondack Park Local Government Control Board, added that he got to know Lefton during her career with The Nature Conservancy and with the governor’s office. He called her an “excellent choice” for the DEC head, describing her as honest.

“Amanda is a tremendous talent and will bring to the position many years of deep experience and leadership in government, and the renewable energy sector,” Seggos said. “I am confident she will be a forceful advocate for DEC’s professionals, Gov. Hochul and all New Yorkers at a time when the country needs the state’s leadership on the environment.”

Lefton’s resume includes directing the U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy when it developed and implemented a broad federal offshore wind program. 

“Her collaborative approach brought together various stakeholders to responsibly manage the nation’s critical offshore energy and mineral resources,” Hochul said in a press release.

She also worked for The Nature Conservancy in New York (TNC declined to comment) as the deputy policy director and climate mitigation lead, the Rochester Regional Joint Board of Workers United and for the past 20 months as vice president of offshore development for the U.S. East at RWE — one of the world’s leading offshore wind businesses.

A native of Queens, she grew up on Long Island and earned a B.A. from the University at Albany.

Adirondack ranger Robert Praczkajlo,  director at the New York State Police Benevolent Association for the rangers, said he is optimistic about Lefton. “I think she’s going to be good for the rangers,” he said.

Lefton did not return messages left on her phone. She would take over a department of more than 3,000 employees and substantial resources in the Adirondack Park.

The Alliance For Clean Energy hailed her nomination, saying she is known for fighting for the environment. “DEC has the tough responsibility of moving New York forward while protecting our most precious natural resources,” said Marguerite Wells, ACE’s executive director in Albany.

“Amanda came to Albany with the environment on her mind,” said former Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, for whom Lefton got her public service start in 2008. “It is in her marrow.”