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Climate
By James Odato
May 29, 2024
Explore More: basil seggos, NYS DEC
Basil Seggos will work with renewable energy clients
By James M. Odato
Basil Seggos, who this spring stepped down as the state’s longest-serving commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, has joined the climate and energy section of a law firm with multiple offices.
Seggos will be based in Manhattan as a partner and senior policy director for Foley Hoag. The firm said he will advise clients on matters involving climate change, clean water, energy and environmental policy, public health, sustainability and security. His team has 35 members and serve entities such as offshore wind developers, solar companies, energy storage businesses, renewable fuel producers and infrastructure investors.
He will be part of the Foley Hoag’s growing New York office. Started in Boston, the firm also has offices in Washington, D.C., Denver and Paris.
Foley Hoag Managing Partner Jim Bucking called Seggos “a force” in the international environmental community. “His policy and regulatory expertise will complement and enhance our market-leading energy and climate practice,” Bucking said.
Related reading: Longest-serving DEC commissioner reflects on Adirondack impacts
Seggos worked under two governors, from 2015 to 2024, and helped add environmental and recreation assets in the Adirondack Park, including the Adirondack Rail Trail and Follensby Pond.
He also had a hand in the passage of the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act and co-chaired the Climate Action Council charged with implementing the act.
Seggos took part in the design of the state’s “cap and invest” program and helped usher the $4.2 billion Clean Water Clean Air Bond Act.
Foley Hoag also employs Noah Shaw, former general counsel with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
“I look forward to working closely with Foley Hoag’s nationwide team and clients to deliver innovative solutions to some of the most pressing issues of our time,” Seggos said.
Before being named commissioner, Seggos served Gov. Andrew Cuomo as deputy secretary for the environment, and worked for the Natural Resources Defense Council, Riverkeeper and the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
A former officer in the U.S. Army Reserve, Seggos more recently participated in humanitarian missions on the front lines in Ukraine. He is a visiting fellow at the National Security Institute and a fellow at the American College of Environmental Lawyers. He received a juris doctorate from The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University.
Sean Mahar, the DEC’s executive deputy commissioner, stepped into Seggos’ role and is the interim commissioner of the DEC.
In a career rooted in watchdog reporting, Explorer editor James M. Odato has been cited as one of New York’s top journalists covering state government, gambling, and abuse and waste of public money. He has written thousands of articles, his byline has appeared in numerous national publications and his investigative stories have spurred reforms. As a staff reporter for five daily newspapers, including the Albany Times Union and Buffalo News, Odato has received more than 30 awards from the Associated Press, New York Publishers Association, the New York Legislative Correspondents Association and other media organizations. In 2007, Investigative Reporters and Editors recognized his reporting with the Freedom of Information Award Medal. In October 2021, the University of Massachusetts Press released his book, This Brain Had a Mouth, Lucy Gwin and the Voice of Disability Nation.
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