Massachusetts' Deval Patrick Wins "Green Governor of the Year Award" First State to Win Federal Approval for Offshore Wind Farms Says BE－sedojy的部落格

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BOSTON, Mass., Feb. 22, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - Massachusetts Governor Deval L.
Patrick (D) today accepted the "Green Governor of the Year Award" for his innovative environmental
leadership in 2012.

Patrick earned the honor by driving bipartisan environmental initiatives, public-private
partnerships, and visionary legislation that raise the bar for energy efficiency; expand renewable
energy infrastructure and usage; grow the clean tech industry and create new jobs; promote green
building; and support ecosystem conservation.

"With national policy hitting major roadblocks and traditional trade failing to produce the
necessary solutions, the pressure--and opportunity--rests with our state and local leaders," said
Beautiful Earth Group President and CEO Lex Heslin, founder of this Award, in its third year. "We
need more governors like Patrick launching win-win initiatives that produce measurable
environmental results, while lowering energy costs, creating new jobs and protecting the health of
citizens for decades to come."

Environmental Highlights From Patrick's Governorship:

* Energy Efficiency: Massachusetts ranked #1 for energy efficient in 2011 and 2012 by the American
Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.
* Renewable Energy: Massachusetts is poised to become the premier center of offshore wind
development in the United States thanks to Governor Patrick's leadership in supporting the
nation's first offshore wind farm, Cape Wind.
* Return on Investment: According to state officials, Massachusetts' newest energy efficiency
programs and incentives are projected to generate nearly $9 billion in benefits from $2.7 billion
in investments over the next three years.
* Green Jobs: Green jobs increased 11.2 percent from 2011 to 2012.
* Green Building: Patrick commissioned the first state-owned, net-zero building at North Shore
Community College in Danvers, completed in 2011.
* Land Conservation: Since taking office, his Administration has made a historic investment of
more than $300 million to conserve more than 100,000 acres.

"Throughout his public service to the people of Massachusetts, Patrick has made greening the
environment a cornerstone of his political and policy agenda," said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO
and Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). USGBC's LEED green building program is
the most widely recognized green building program across the globe, with over 50,000 projects
spread across 135 countries (http://www.usgbc.org
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/ctr?d=10022736&l=5&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usgbc.org ). "In 2012
alone, 106 projects earned LEED certification in Massachusetts, totaling more than 13 million
square feet of greener, healthier building space."

"We appreciate Governor Patrick's efforts to cut dangerous air pollution from the state's
remaining coal-fired plants and to advance innovative, clean energy solutions like offshore wind.
Under his leadership, Massachusetts is becoming a national leader in the transition toward a clean
energy economy, and we look forward to continuing to work with him to clean up the air in New
England and to make the region the nation's leading clean energy development hub," said Sierra
Club Executive Director Michael Brune.

"Thanks to Governor Patrick's courage and grit," said Lex Heslin, "other state, local and even
national policymakers will be able to point to his success and implement proven solutions faster -
and with less risk."

Last year's award went to Peter Shumlin (D), Governor of Vermont, with the inaugural award having
gone to Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), then Governor of California.

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ABOUT BEAUTIFUL EARTH GROUP: Beautiful Earth Group (BE) is a developer, owner and operator of
utility-scale solar, wind and hydro power generating facilities in the U.S. and abroad. It was
formed in 2008 and is headquartered in Brooklyn, NY, with representatives in California and Japan.
The company's mission is to produce clean, green energy and to sell its Beautiful Energy© to
residential, commercial, municipal and government customers worldwide. BE invests exclusively in
non-carbon emitting electricity generation. It is extensively involved with electric vehicles and
other downstream solutions to advance carbon neutrality. BE built the first solar powered EV
charging station (2009) and first net-zero education facility (2010) in New York City. It is
developing the Beautiful Energy© 50 MW solar energy plant in California's Mojave desert.
http://www.beautifulearthgroup.com
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ABOUT GOVERNOR DEVAL L. PATRICK: Deval Laurdine Patrick (Democrat) has been Governor of
Massachusetts since 2006. Born July 31, 1956, Patrick was raised on the south side of Chicago
before earning a scholarship to a prestigious school in Massachusetts in eighth grade. He went on
to graduate from Harvard College and Harvard Law School, where he was President of the Harvard
Legal Aid Bureau. After working with the NAACP, Patrick joined a Boston law firm where he became a
partner at age 34. In 1994 he was appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney General by President Bill
Clinton. He later worked as general counsel of Texaco and Coca-Cola, representing them in large
racial discrimination settlements. Patrick is Massachusetts' first African American governor and
the second African American to be elected governor of any US state. http://www.mass.gov/governor/
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/ctr?d=10022736&l=11&a=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mass.gov%2Fgovernor%2F%20&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mass.gov%2Fgovernor%2F

ABOUT THE SIERRA CLUB: The Sierra Club is Americas largest and most influential grassroots
environmental organization with more than 2.1 million members and supporters nationwide. In
addition to creating opportunities for people of all ages, levels and locations to have meaningful
outdoor experiences, the Sierra Club works to safeguard the health of our communities, protect
wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education,
lobbying and litigation. http://www.sierraclub.org
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/ctr?d=10022736&l=12&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sierraclub.org .

This article was originally distributed on PRWeb. For the original version including any
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CONTACT: Beautiful Earth Group
Amanda Cleary
amandasaver@gmail.com
718-488-8426