MINNEAPOLIS (Sept. 28, 2007) – Dorsey & Whitney attorney and former Iowa Governor Thomas J. Vilsack will co-chair a Council on Foreign Relations independent task force formed to make U.S. policy recommendations for international engagement on climate change. Vilsack and former New York Governor George E. Pataki lead a group of scholars, scientists, university leaders and business executives who will examine the economics, science and politics of climate change.
In a report scheduled for the spring of 2008, the task force will propose a comprehensive strategy to address the challenges and seize the possibilities that climate change creates, with special emphasis on dimensions that explicitly involve foreign policy.
“The challenge for the task force and for the country,” Vilsack noted, “is to develop an approach that can be effective internationally, while improving America’s diplomatic standing and gaining the support of government, industry, labor and environmental interests.”
Dorsey & Whitney senior counsel and former U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale said: “Like Governor Pataki, Governor Vilsack brings significant, highly relevant experience and expertise to a project charged with developing a focused U.S. strategy for confronting a serious challenge and exploiting a potential opportunity.“
Vilsack joined the Des Moines office of Dorsey & Whitney in May 2007. His practice focuses on strategic counseling and planning, advising clients in the fields of energy production, renewable fuels and agribusiness development.
In addition to a distinguished public service career as Iowa governor (1996-2006), Iowa state senator and the mayor of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, Vilsack is a highly regarded litigator with more than 25 years of trial experience handling complex litigation and class actions with state-wide and national implications.