Tim Profeta's Bio and Research

Tim is the founding director of the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. Since 2005, the Institute has grown into a major non-partisan player in key environmental debates, serving both the public and private sectors with sound understanding of complex environmental issues. Prior to his arrival at Duke, Profeta served as counsel for the environment to Sen. Joseph Lieberman. As Lieberman’s counsel, he was a principal architect of the Lieberman-McCain Climate Stewardship Act of 2003. He also represented Lieberman in legislative negotiations pertaining to environmental and energy issues, as well as coordinating the senator’s energy and environmental portfolio during his runs for national office.

Profeta has continued to use his experience on Capitol Hill to engage in the most pertinent debates surrounding climate change. Since 2005, his work has included the development of proposal with four senate offices to contain costs while maintaining environmental integrity under a cap-and-trade program. The Institute’s other work ranges from economic analyses of climate scenarios for a variety of stakeholder groups, to a proposal tackling the challenges of a carbon offsets market in a cap-and-trade system, to developing a climate change plan for the state of Utah. Profeta has served as visiting lecturer at Duke Law School, where he taught a weekly seminar on the evolution of environmental law and the Endangered Species Act. He has also co-taught a course on Corporate Sustainability and Climate Change with the Duke Executive Education Program. Profeta earned a law degree from Duke and an undergraduate degree from Yale University.