You probably have already caught wind there is a surging movement to save the environment and "Go Green". Largely sparked by the award-winning documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth", it now seems that going green is on the mind's of the entire global population. It certainly can't be denied that global warming is not a natural trend and that Carbon Dioxide is our friend (as some oil activists would have you believe). As a result, the trend to build environmentally friendly structures and use alternative energy sources is at an all-time high.

Getting on this boat to build the first eco-friendly, green casino in the Northeast United States is the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, who recently announced their proposed $600 Million St. Regis Mohawk Casino at Monticello Raceway in New York will be built in accordance with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design's (LEED) Green Building Certification. Empire Resorts, who will be developing the casino resort, has already registered the project with the U.S. Green Building Council, who will ultimately have to approve the finished resort before it is awarded the LEED certification.

Mohawk Tribal Chief, Lorraine White, said the casino will be the "first of its type" and the "first of any type in the nation". The project is an underscore of the Mohawk tribe's commitment to protecting the environment and has already received a pre-certification analysis. CEO of Empire Resorts, Dave Hanlon, said the LEED certification has been a target goal for the St. Regis Mohawk Casino since day one of the planning stages. Hanlon believes it will serve as the prototype for future casinos seeking to preserving the environment.

Helping Empire Resorts with the certification process will be Steven Winter Associates (SWA), whose LEED accredited faculty member, Andrew Hathaway, will be overseeing the project. In order to obtain the certification, the casino resort must meet minimum standards in the areas of water conservation, green building materials, sustainable site development, energy conservation and efficiency and indoor environmental standards.