Joseph Colaneri

Joseph Colaneri is a public affairs director in Foley & Lardner's Government & Public Affairs Practice. His experience includes government relations, association management, legislative and political analysis, employee and corporate communications, and grassroots lobbying. Dr. Colaneri has also served as executive director for the Propane Vehicle Council; Washington representative for Unocal Corporation, a Fortune 100 oil and natural gas company with annual revenues of $8-$11 billion; and legislative assistant to both Congressman Cecil Heftel and Congressman Norman Y. Mineta. In these positions, Dr. Colaneri has been an integral part of the congressional debate on national energy policy. He drafted the Wind Energy Systems Act of 1980 which became Public Law 96-345. He successfully lobbied for the permanent extension of the business energy tax incentives for geothermal energy production enacted as part of the Energy Policy Act of 1992. He also drafted energy tax provisions providing tax equity for liquefied petroleum gas (propane) motor vehicle fuel under the highway excise tax which were enacted into law, and he developed the initial energy tax provisions enacted in the omnibus energy legislation of 2005 providing significant federal tax incentives for alternative fuel vehicles and infrastructure. Over this period of time, Dr. Colaneri has worked with virtually every major national oil and natural gas and renewable and alternative fuel stakeholder group. Dr. Colaneri earned a Ph.D and M.Phil. in political science from George Washington University (1987, 1984). He also received master's and bachelor's degrees in political science from Boston College (1976, 1972).