Greetings Green Card Holders, Business Partners, and other friends of the Green Alliance! My name is Scott Szycher, and in just a few weeks I’ll be joining the Green Alliance as Assistant Project Director to Sarah Brown. I’m genuinely excited to contribute to GA’s mission of connecting “green” consumers with local Seacoast businesses that actively integrate sustainability into their business operations.

You can find out more about me at http://www.greenalliance.biz/about-us, but in a nutshell, I not only have a great interest in sustainable economies and communities, but also in promoting a vibrant and healthy Seacoast community. I have been visiting the Seacoast since attending high school in one of Boston’s northern suburbs, and quickly became enamored with the area’s residents, natural landmarks, and thriving cultural attractions.

Starting in August, you can contact me at scott@greenalliance.biz; I’ll be happy to hear from you whether you are a Green Card Holder (or soon-to-be Green Card Holder!) wanting to learn about the latest discounts and information on our valued business partners, or a business partner of the Green Alliance wanting to brainstorm on how to promote your company’s great products, services, and green business practices to our loyal cardholders who value local businesses and the great deals they offer to the Green Alliance community.

I also wanted to mention something time-sensitive regarding politics. Last night, I had the pleasure of attending a meeting conducted by Jim Rubens, the New Hampshire coordinator for the Union of Concerned Scientists. Jim explained that during the next 2-3 weeks, the U.S. Senate will hold hearings on the so-called “Energy Bill” (sometimes know as the Kerry-Lieberman-Graham bill, or the American Power Act). Of the various points Jim made, one thing appears a reasonably safe bet: if the Energy Bill fails before Senators go home for their August recess, it will likely be a good long while (years?) before the bill comes up for debate again.

As a result, whatever your position is on the bill’s components (which may include proposals that would place a cap on carbon emissions for utilities, a rebate sent directly to consumers to offset higher prices for energy from fossil-fuels, and a surcharge on oil companies to fund cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico), you should contact your Senators to make your feelings known. In fact, we have four Senators from New England who are currently undecided on how they would vote on the bill: NH Senator Gregg, MA Senator Brown, and Senators Collins and Snowe from ME.

Although we don’t know exactly what will be in the Senate version (though it’s all but assured it will be less aggressive than the version produced by the House of Representatives, which would not have the votes to pass in the Senate), Jim Rubens was quite convincing in his statements that regions like New England – with our traditionally high electricity prices, our region’s sensitivity to climate change, and our abundance of small businesses involved in alternative energy – would stand to gain the most from an energy bill that integrates climate policy into energy legislation.

So, whatever state you reside in, we urge you to contact your state’s senator(s) who are currently undecided, and let your voice be heard! If you are in favor of legislation that would include pricing carbon (widely considered a critical element towards the transition to cleaner, greener energy production), you can simply let your Senator’s office know your position by stating so via phone call, fax, email, postcard, etc. Jim assured us that their offices do track their constituents’ responses.

Here are the addresses and phone numbers for the Senators’ respective offices:

Sen. Judd Gregg: 16 Pease Blvd., Portsmouth, NH 03801, 603.431.2171

Sen. Susan Collins: 160 Main St, Biddeford, ME 04005, 207.283.1101

Sen. Olympia Snowe: 227 Main St., Biddeford, ME 04005, 207.282.4144

Sen. Scott Brown, 2400 JFK Bldg, Boston, MA 02203, 617.565.3170