Erin Crotty

The Crotty Group, LLC
President

With 17 years of experience in environmental management in the public and private sectors, Erin M. Crotty has demonstrated her skill as a leader in this complex field.  In 2005, Ms. Crotty founded The Crotty Group, LLC. a management consulting firm that assists corporations, governments and non-governmental organizations with the complex issues relating to the environment, energy, economic development and land use.  The corporate practice area focuses on corporate social responsibility - the integration and alignment of the environmental and social aspects of a company into their business strategy to gain competitive advantage.

In March 2001, Ms. Crotty was nominated by New York Governor George E. Pataki, and unanimously confirmed by the New York State Senate, to become the first woman to lead the Department of Environmental Conservation.  Ms. Crotty held the position of Commissioner for nearly 4 years and her leadership solidified New York as a national leader on environmental issues.

As Commissioner, Ms. Crotty led a professional staff of over 3,300 and an annual budget of approximately $1 billion.  For nearly 9 years, Ms. Crotty worked along side Governor Pataki in preserving over 900,000 acres of precious open space, was a chief architect of the historic Superfund/Brownfields law of 2003 - ensuring a continued source of funding to cleanup the State’s contaminated sites, spearheaded the implementation of the toughest acid rain regulations in the country, reached two landmark agreements covering 6 coal-fired power plants that will achieve the largest reduction in air pollution levels ever attained through settlement, was a chief architect of the historic 1997 New York City Watershed Agreement, spearheaded efforts to reduce greenhouse gases in the Northeast, implemented the $1.75 billion Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act, and managed the agency’s response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

Prior to becoming Commissioner, Ms. Crotty was a Deputy Commissioner at the Department, served as Governor Pataki’s Director of Special Environmental Projects, was a policy analyst with the New York State Senate, a government liaison for Plug Power, Inc. and held other positions in the private sector.

Ms. Crotty was named Conservationist of the Year by The Adirondack Council, received the New York State Bar Association’s Environmental Law Section award, received the Long Island Sound Guardian Award, the Outstanding Young Alumnae Award from Emma Willard School, an award for her work to preserve Long Island Sound from the Westchester County Chapter of the League of Conservation Voters, and was profiled in the National JournalMay 2004 Special Report for her work on climate change as one of the 100 people whose ideas will help shape the debates over ten important issues.   

Ms. Crotty presently serves on the Board of Directors for Audubon New York, is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for Siena College’s School of Business, and is on the Capital Campaign for the Albany Pine Bush Discovery Center.

Ms. Crotty holds a B.A. in Political Science from Russell Sage College and a M.S. in Urban & Environmental Studies from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.