Rivers Alliance of Connecticut has named state Sen. Ed Meyer, D-Guilford,  the “Environmental Champion of the Year 2012,” the organization said in a statement.
Meyer, chairman of the legislature’s Environment Committee, “has long been a champion for environmental issues across the state and particularly in the 12th Senatorial District,” the release said. “This year, Rivers Alliance selected Senator Meyer due to his forward-looking stances on a number of high profile issues affecting our state waterways.”

“Our natural environment is among the most precious of our state assets,” Meyer said, also in the release. “Protecting the environment has long been a passion of mine, and I am honored that Rivers Alliance of Connecticut would choose me to receive this award.”
Rivers Alliance chose Meyer for “his passion in ensuring the people of Connecticut can continue to enjoy clean water, clean air, and healthy communities. In particular, he was recognized for his work on establishing vegetated buffers to protect rivers and Long Island Sound from polluted stormwater, instituting high standards for sewage treatment, and placing limits on pesticide use,” the release said.

“From his first term in the legislature, Ed Meyer was an environmental champion,” Alliance Executive Director Margaret Miner said, also in the release. “Already an accomplished policy maker, he was still eager to learn, to work, and to lead. We are lucky to have him in Connecticut.”

Also in the statement: Rivers Alliance of Connecticut is a statewide non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring Connecticut’s waters. It was founded in 1992 by Connecticut watershed and river conservation groups to promote protection of state watercourses.