Advocate for the Environment

"Throughout his career in public service, Tom Suozzi has set the bar for environmental leadership, Whether it's protecting wetlands, cleaning the air or preserving open space, he has demonstrated his passion for a better environment and the political courage to work toward it. There is a reason Nassau County is known as a national leader in the effort to fight climate change - and that reason is named Tom Suozzi. We are proud to honor Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi as our 2008 Environmentalist of the Year."

-Marcia Bystryn, Executive Director, New York League of Conservation Voters

County Executive Suozzi's environmental initiatives have earned him national recognition.  As Glen Cove Mayor, Suozzi was recognized by Vice President Al Gore as the architect of his city's Brownfields Showcase Community- one of only 16 communities to be chosen by Gore nationwide. He closed the "worst run incinerator in New York State" and under his leadership, Glen Cove was the first sewage treatment plant to reduce its nitrogen output by 50% into the Long Island Sound.

Suozzi has also been nationally recognized in the fight against climate change. The EPA recently honored him for his leadership in creating a municipal model for reducing emissions and improving air quality. He led the "U.S. Cool Counties Climate Stabilization Declaration," a national promise to reduce global warming emissions 80% by 2050. He is a founder and executive committee member of Climate Communities, a national advocacy coalition of local governments that lobbies for federal funding on the local level to fight climate change. Time magazine recently featured Suozzi's efforts to make "Green Levittown" a national model for a suburb combating global warming.

Suozzi has led Nassau County's effort to invest $150 million dollars in open space preservation. He has created the largest alternative fuel vehicle and bio-diesel program in New York outside of New York City and the largest 100% compressed natural gas bus fleet outside of California, and many other environmental initiatives.

Suozzi has received numerous accolades for his environmental accomplishments, including the Equinox Award from Citizens Campaign for the Environment in 2008 and the Environmental Leadership Award from the Greater LI Clean Cities Coalition in 2005. In 1997, Suozzi was the only elected official to receive an EPA Region 2 Environmental Quality Award. He was most recently named 2008 Environmentalist of the Year by the New York League of Conservation Voters. NYLCV spokesman Dan Hendrick said Suozzi administrations dating back to his days as mayor of Glen Cove have been "a model for local sustainability efforts".