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He has named Leonard Peters, a nationally acclaimed chemical engineer with ties to the University of Kentucky, to be secretary of the new Energy and Environmental Cabinet.
Bob Vance of Maysville is expected to stay on as secretary of the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet, but it might get a new name. Vance has previously told state lawmakers that the agency's Department of Labor will also become a stand-alone cabinet in late June.
The reorganization will undo moves by former Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher that combined cabinets for the environment and public protection and abolished a labor cabinet.
Tom FitzGerald, an environmentalist and attorney with the Kentucky Resources Council, praised the reorganization "because the current cabinet is too large for anyone to govern."
But FitzGerald expressed disappointment that the Beshear administration has fired Susan Bush as commissioner of the cabinet's Department of Natural Resources. She has presided over landmark changes to mine safety laws in Kentucky.
On his Web site, www. kyrc.org, FitzGerald said the Bush firing is "lacking in class" and that the Beshear administration never misses "an opportunity to underwhelm."
FitzGerald said his organization "is deeply concerned with her firing, and with what this portends for the integrity of the mining and oil and gas programs under this administration."
FitzGerald noted that Bush's firing comes after the recent dismissal of Talina Mathews as head of the Governor's Office of Energy Policy.
Mark York, a spokesman for the cabinet, confirmed that Friday was Bush's last day on the job, but did not say why she was being let go. She did not return phone calls to her office.
The splitting of the current cabinet is expected in June or July, York said. Money for the new cabinet will come from funds in the current cabinet, which employs about 2,900 people. Its operating budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, is about $560 million.
Beshear was not available to comment Friday on the reorganization. His press aide, Vicki Glass, said the reorganization "will be complete in a few weeks and the governor will discuss it in detail at that point."
Beshear announced in a news release that Peters, 68, recently stepped down as vice president of Global Laboratory Operations for Battelle Memorial Institute, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, to be secretary of the new energy cabinet.
He called Peters "a perfect selection in helping balance energy needs with environmental concerns."
At Battelle, Peters led the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash. He directed 4,200 scientists and support staff with a budget of nearly $750 million. Much of that revenue came from contracts, grants and private fund initiatives.
Beshear's office also said Peters realigned the lab's research priorities and defined Battelle's partnerships with universities. The laboratory has major research and development programs in fundamental science, energy, environment, and national and homeland security.
From 1993 to 2003, Peters was in several key positions at Virginia Tech, including: vice provost for research, president of Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, Inc., and dean of the graduate school.
Before that, he spent almost 20 years with the University of Kentucky. His duties at UK included professor of engineering, vice chancellor for research and graduate studies and acting vice chairman for research and graduate studies. He also was chairman of the chemical engineering department.
In his administrative capacity at UK, Peters was responsible for the Kentucky Geological Survey as well as the Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research and other research centers.
Peters and his wife, Georgiana, live in Shelby County.
The Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet, which Vance now heads, consists of four departments. Its Department for Environmental Protection and Department for Natural Resources are designed to protect the state's environment and manage its natural resources.
The Department of Public Protection oversees financial institutions, utility companies, insurance companies and agents, charitable gaming operations and horse racing in the state, while the Department of Labor promotes the importance of a healthy and safe workplace.
