QUESTION: What ever happened to Andy Winer, the Honolulu lawyer who went to work for President Obama?

ANSWER: Winer is now working on the Gulf Coast, helping to coordinate the federal government's response to the BP LLC oil leak.

Last August, Winer was tapped as the external affairs director for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Washington.

He reports that he already has made two trips to the gulf, visiting New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Terrebonne Parish and Palquemines Parish in Louisiana. He also was in Alabama and Mississippi.

“;I am meeting with commercial fishermen, seafood processors, fishing-related businesses, recreational fishermen, environmental groups organizing volunteer efforts, community groups, restaurant owners, Native Americans and academics to discuss NOAA's role and to assess short- and long-term strategies for addressing the economic and social issues caused by the spill,”; Winer said in an e-mail.

“;We are dealing with a tragic disaster which will have a profound impact on this region, and I feel like I am helping to make a difference,”; he wrote.

Winer says fishermen and conservationists alike are worried about the environmental consequences of the spill and the resulting damage to the area's economy.

Winer added that the federal government is readying plans to deal with the oil spill “;for a long time.”;

Before going to work for NOAA, Winer, 50, was a local lawyer, managing partner of Winer, Mehuela & Devens, and a top Democratic political strategist in Hawaii.

Winer served as Hawaii coordinator for the Obama campaign, and in 2006, he served as campaign manager for U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka's re-election campaign.