BATON ROUGE, La. — On Wednesday, Louisiana Governor-elect Jeff Landry announced that former U.S. President Donald Trump's wildlife official as the state's top environmental regulator.
Aurelia Skipwith Giacometto, who served as U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director from 2019 to 2021, will head Louisiana's Department of Environmental Quality under Landry.
With the announcement, Giacometto becomes the first Black woman to serve as the head of the state's DEQ.
"And so a lot of folks may ask, 'Well, why is this appointment so important?'," questioned Landry. "Well, of course, everyone wants clean air and clean water. And all of you here today know that Louisiana is not new to a variety of environmental factors, whether it be hurricanes or floods, whether it's the problem with our wetlands. And on our coasts, it's important that our citizens live with good water and air quality. It's equally important that we protect jobs here in Louisiana.
"During the campaign, I promised the voters of this state that we were going to concentrate on the businesses and industries that grew this state."
Last week. Landry named former state House Speaker Taylor Barras as his commissioner of administration followed by announcing former House Fiscal Division Director Patrick Goldsmith as Barras' top deputy.
The incoming governor still has other cabinet-level positions to fill for his administration, which takes office in January 2024.
In the final press conference prior to Thanksgiving, Landry also discussed details of the new inauguration website as seen in the complete presser shown below:
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