Related Goes Green With Governor Pataki

August 9th, 2007 at 05:37am Post Staff 3

SNOWMASS, COLORADO (Post Time News)–Former New York Governor George E. Pataki will be in Snowmass over the next several days both for the Rocky Mountain Institute’s 25th Anniversary celebration and for Related Westpac’s announcement of a green initiative in its development here of Base Village.

The former Governor is known for beeing green. BusinessWeek named him one of the top 20 “Individuals who stand out for their efforts to cut gases that cause global warming” in the world. Also, in 2006, Vanity Fair called him a governor who “gets it” in its inaugural “Green Issue” for his efforts concerning the environment.

As Governor, he protected over one million acres of open space, the most since Teddy Roosevelt, but Governor Pataki–a Republican–also stressed his pro-business philosophy in the renewable energy and environmental fields. He led the establishment of the first mandatory cap and trade carbon initiative (Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative – RGGI) which now includes ten Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic States. The Governor also implemented the first integrated strategy for creating clean, renewable transportation networks utilizing alternative fuels, including tax and other incentives for both consumers and manufacturers, grants for alternative retail fuel distribution systems and the exemption of renewable fuels from all State and local taxes. 

Governor Pataki established New York ’s leading brownfield program spurring development in cities across the state.  He instituted the nation’s first green buildings tax credit incentive program which led to the building of the first high-rise green office building in the United States, the first high-rise green residential building in the United States and a host of other green projects currently under development. In addition, Governor Pataki worked to create public private partnerships for clean energy generation in New York State resulting in one of the largest industrial solar power arrays in the U.S. , two cellulosic ethanol production facilities, two clean coal plants underdevelopment and one of the largest wind-power arrays in the Eastern United States .  He introduced net metering to encourage alternative energy production in homes and established the nation’s first business park devoted to the development of clean energy technologies.

Pataki is the founder and Chairman of Pataki-Cahill Group, a consulting firm concentrating on climate change, energy and the environment; and Counsel at Chadbourne and Parke, LLP.  Prior to starting the Pataki-Cahill Group, he served three terms as the 53rd governor of New York State , from 1995 through 2006.

The Governor and his wife Libby reside in Garrison , NY .  They have four children—Emily, an attorney; Teddy, serving in the United States Marine Corps; Allison, a student at Yale University; and Owen, a student at Cornell University

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