George E. Pataki

Biography

Governor George E. Pataki joined the ThalesNano Advisory Board in September, 2009. Governor Pataki was a partner in the New York law firm of Plunkett & Jaffe until 1987. He was elected mayor of Peekskill, New York in 1981, and served in the New York State Legislature as an assemblyman and then a senator from 1985 to 1994. In 1994, he became the fifty-third Governor of the State of New York and was reelected in 1998 and 2002. He served as Governor from January 1, 1995 until January 1, 2007. Governor Pataki led the establishment of the first mandatory cap and trade carbon initiative (Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative) which now includes ten Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic States. The Governor implemented the first integrated strategy for creating clean, renewable transportation networks utilizing alternative fuels. In addition, Governor Pataki worked to create public private partnerships for clean energy generation in New York State resulting in one of the largest industrial solar power arrays in the U.S., two cellulosic ethanol pilot production facilities and one of the largest wind-power arrays in the Eastern U.S. He introduced metering to encourage alternative energy production in homes and established the nation’s first business park devoted to the development of clean energy technologies. Governor Pataki joined the law firm of Chadbourne and Parke, LLP in 2007 as Counsel, focusing on environmental, energy and infrastructure practice areas. The Governor is also founder and Chairman of Pataki-Cahill Group, a consulting firm concentrating on climate change, energy and the environment. Since joining Chadbourne and Parke, Pataki served as Co-Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations Independent Task Force on Climate Change and as the Unites States Public Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly. Governor Pataki holds a Bachelor’s degree from Yale University (1967) and a Law degree from Columbia Law School (1970).

Research Interest

Climate change, energy and the environment