Politics

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy knew the drill. The last step in dealing with a political gaffe is address the press, take a few questions, smile and say something mildly dismissive like, "You know, we're pretty much done with it."

And so it was that Malloy waited for reporters to surround him Thursday evening outside the State Capitol and ask questions about him reimbursing People magazine $1,234 for his trip to the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

Activists starkly signaled their distrust of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Friday with a broad demand for records pertaining to the department's evolving energy policy.

The Connecticut Citizen Action Group, Common Cause and two others filed a freedom of information request demanding communication by Commissioner Daniel C. Esty and top DEEP staff with energy companies regarding energy legislation and policy.

A renewable energy bill that has set much of the environmental community against the administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and legislative Democrats was passed Wednesday by the state Senate.

If politics makes for strange bedfellows, doubly so for this bill: Owners of energy plants sided with environmentalists, who failed to win over any of their usual allies among the Democratic majority.