With
news that the Obama Administration was considering a
potential economic stimulus package in November, Sandy
Breslin and our Audubon Long Island Sound team leapt
into high gear to identify and promote ‘shovel-ready”
projects benefiting the Sound. For the past month, our
team has been working to ensure that lawmakers and the
Obama Transition Team consider clean water and habitat
restoration projects in the LIS as part of any federal
economic stimulus package.
Sandy Breslin and Sean Mahar (of Audubon New York)
identified over $1.6 billion in clean water projects
and $211 million in habitat restoration projects around
the Sound. Based on this information, Audubon’s
national legislative director, Mike Daulton, successfully
urged that LIS clean water projects be included in a
nationwide compendium of green infrastructure projects
submitted to the Obama Transition Team by a coalition
of top environmental groups in DC, known as the Green
Group. The advocacy continued in meetings with legislative
leaders and the Obama Transition Team, where National
VP of Policy, Betsy Loyless, took the lead advocating
for the significance of Long Island Sound. The response
was overwhelmingly positive and led to a request for
additional information from the Obama Transition Team.
Click here
to download the fact sheet provided by Audubon on LIS. |