Boehlert was born in Utica, New York to Elizabeth Monica Champoux and Sherwood Boehlert, and graduated from Utica College. He served two years in the United States Army and then worked as a manager of public relations for Wyandotte Chemical Company. After leaving Wyandotte, Boehlert served as Chief of Staff for two upstate Congressmen, Alexander Pirnie and Donald J. Mitchell; following this, he was elected the county executive of Oneida County, New York, serving from 1979 to 1983. After his four-year term as county executive, he ran successfully for Congress in the elections of 1982. He was re-elected to every Congress subsequent until his retirement.
Mitchell did not run for reelection in 1982. Boehlert entered the Republican primary to succeed him in the district, which has been renumbered from the 31st to the 25th in redistricting. He won the primary with 56% of the vote. He won the general election by defeating Democrat Anita Maxwell 56%–42%. After that, he won re-election every two years until he decided to retire, and not seek re-election in 2006. His district number changed twice, each time after redistricting—from the 25th to the 23rd to the 24th. He was challenged in the Republican primary five times: 1986, 1996, 2000, 2002, and 2004. His lowest re-election winning percentage in the general election was 57%, in his last re-election in 2004 when he defeated Democrat Jeff Miller 57%–34%.
Tenure
Boehlert is best known for his work on environmental policy. Beginning in the 1980s with the acid rain crisis, Boehlert became a prominent voice in the Republican party for the environment. He was a major contributor to the acid rain provisions of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. Boehlert pushed continually to increase Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards for light trucks and automobiles and was the lead GOP sponsor of numerous CAFE amendments. Due to Boehlert's constant battles over environmental legislation, often putting him at odds with his party's leadership, National Journal dubbed Boehlert the "Green Hornet" and featured him as one of the dozen "key players" in the House of Representatives. Due to his centrist views, Time Magazine also recognized Boehlert as a "power center" on Capitol Hill and Congressional Quarterly named him one of the 50 most effective Members of Congress. Boehlert also was a member of several national moderate GOP groups including the Republican Main Street Partnership and the Ripon Society. On the Science Committee, Boehlert championed investments in the National Science Foundation, science and math education programs and the Department of Energy'sOffice of Science. As Chairman he pushed for measures to increase cybersecurity research and the creation of a Science and Technology Directorate at the Department of Homeland Security. After 9/11 and the 2001 anthrax attacks, Boehlert crafted legislation establishing the to oversee development of technologies to secure against terrorist attacks. This homeland security S&T bill reported out of the Science Committee was ultimately accepted by the congressional leadership and President Bush and enacted as part of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Boehlert was one of the first Members of Congress to call for a competitiveness agenda, culminating with a major National Academy of Sciences report on retaining U.S. leadership in science and engineering, as well as the American Competitiveness Initiative introduced by President Bush in 2006. Boehlert was an active promoter of first responder legislation, a strong champion for volunteer firefighters and original member and Chairman of the . On March 17, 2006, at a press conference Boehlert announced that he would not seek a thirteenth term in office. Several important landmarks are named for Boehlert that reflect his work on transportation and science issues. These include the renovated Union Station in Utica and the new science facilities of the Air Force Research Laboratory—Information Directorate in Rome, New York.
Since 2007, Boehlert has remained active promoting environmental and scientific causes. He serves currently on the Board of the bipartisan Alliance for Climate Protection chaired by former Vice President Al Gore. Boehlert currently serves as a Senior Fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center. Boehlert is a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One.
