“The more climate pollution we emit, the more serious and potentially irreversible these problems will get,” Leibowitz wrote in “A Year After Sandy, Action on Climate,” published in Huffington Post Green last Nov. 4. “Coordinated action to reduce emissions of heat-trapping carbon pollution is urgent if we want to leave a stable climate for future generations.

“We have an obligation to protect our children and future generations from the impacts of global warming,” she continued. “Let’s hope that it won’t take another Hurricane Sandy for the nation as a whole to find the courage and the wisdom to act.”

‘A real plugger’
Leibowitz was raised in a close-knit family that includes her sister, Jennifer, who majored in English as an undergraduate and is now studying physics and engineering at Portland State University.

Arthur and Judy Leibowitz said they couldn’t be prouder of their daughters. Heather, they said, “has all the characteristics we hoped she would have as an adult,” said Arthur, a psychologist. “She’s altruistic. She works hard. She has very good values. She absolutely knows the difference between right and wrong. She has a very good internal guidance system.”

Leibowitz’s father said she has always had something of an adventurous streak. Her parents signed her up for figure-skating classes when she was a child. She would have none of it. She wanted to play hockey because she could skate fast. So she switched sports, with her parents’ reluctant blessing. Her nickname growing up was “Mad Dog,” denoting her fearless style of play, her dad said. After competing at Newbridge Arena throughout her childhood while also riding horses, she went on to play hockey at Geneseo for three seasons.

“She’s always been inquisitive, and she’s always wanted that little adrenaline rush,” said her mother, a special education teacher, noting that her daughter took her skydiving in Suffolk County as a Mother’s Day present when she was a student at Geneseo.
“She’s a real plugger,” Judy said.