Mayor Michael Bloomberg delivered the keynote address to the Green Business Summit, a June 18 meeting of counselors for financial traders, lenders and power utilities to discuss the business opportunities and risks brought by new green regulations and technologies underway. The summit was sponsored and run by Chadbourne & Parke, the law firm now home to former Gov. George Pataki (R) and his chief of staff, John Cahill.

Pataki began the summit with a morning address calling green energy economically exciting because of its relation to the transportation sector.

“The transformation is going to be enormous. And because of that, the opportunities are enormous,” Pataki said.

Pataki predicted that a national law capping greenhouse gas emissions and putting in place a trading system would be passed in the near future, and said that this would be a huge improvement over the current hodgepodge of regional agreements throughout the country.

However, Reid Dechton, the executive director for energy and climate of the United Nations Foundation, who spoke as part of the summit’s energy trading panel, was skeptical that the next president would have an easy time creating a national policy.

In his keynote address, Bloomberg stressed what he called a natural link between capitalist mentality and environmentalist mentality.

“For far too long, environmentalists have gotten pitted against economic development,” he said. “I think that is a myth, and I also think that is a myth which is rapidly fading away as the reality of what happens when you do and don’t improve the environment starts coming  home to roost.”

Bloomberg said that reducing global warming depends on people realizing the cost of carbon emissions.

“Green business is the future of business,” Bloomberg said.

He predicted that the next president will work toward passing legislation either installing a cap and trade system for carbon emissions or assigning a monetary value to carbon emissions.

This, he said, would spur similar action in other countries.

“The bottom line is that if we did it, then other people around the world might have the courage to do it,” he said. “I don’t think people here understand in this country how important America’s leadership is.”

Either solution would increase the cost of carbon emissions and carbon-based fuel, making alternative energy sources more cost-competitive and more attractive to consumers and industries.

Bloomberg highlighted several initiatives his administration launched, including requiring hybrid taxis, promoting solar energy generation, installing green roofs and promoting compact fluorescent bulb use.

Bloomberg then called on those in the audience to help make the next mayor continues these efforts.

“It’s your job to make sure our successors follow on,” he said.

Photo by Susan Campriello.