7gen Bloc

Last week a business coalition called BICEP (Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy) and Ceres, a coalition of investors and other public interest organizations working to address sustainability challenges, placed a full page ad in the Wall Street Journal calling on the President and members of Congress to invest in our nation's economic future by passing legislation to cut carbon pollution and support clean energy...now! Seventh Generation is proud to be a member of both groups.

The group applauded House committee Chairs Waxman and Markey for completing this historic energy and climate legislation -- the first time major legislation of this sort has made it through the House Energy & Commerce Committee. The Waxman-Markey bill is a huge step forward. It contains several key elements, including the first national limit on greenhouse gas emissions, targets for renewable energy and energy efficiency, and a cap-and-trade program. Especially noteworthy is the fact that the bill has bipartisan political support from many regions of the country as well as a wide array of companies, labor organizations, and faith-based groups.

The President quickly took notice of our coalition and invited its members to a White House meeting to discuss comprehensive energy reform. The meeting will be co-hosted by Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett and Carol Browner, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change.

Nancy Pelosi, upon finding out about the meeting and not wanting to be left out, requested her own meeting with the group.

Our own Chris Miller has managed this relationship for Seventh Generation, and the meeting as well as all the positive publicity we will receive is all due to his great work.

So off I go to participate in this two historic meeting with other invited coalition members, including Applied Materials, Duke Energy, Ebay, Hewlet Packard, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Levi Strauss & Co., Nike, and Starbucks.

Tomorrow I'll let you know how it all went!!