We were honored to have several members of the General Assembly join us -- Delegate Jim Gilchrist (D - District 17, Montgomery County); Delegate Herb McMillan (R - District 30, Annapolis/Anne Arundel County); Senator Paul Pinskey (D - District 22, Prince Georges County), our Honorary Legislative Host on the Senate side; and Delegate Steve Schuh (R - District 31, Anne Arundel County), our Honorary Legislative Host on the House side. Delegate Schuh is also one of our Founding 100 sponsors and he sang our praises during our brief announcements.

We were sorry that our Honorary Legislative Host on the Senate side, Senator Pinskey, could not stay for the announcements, but we very much appreciate his support. He has been a strong supporter of environmental issues in the Senate and has a Maryland League of Conservation Voters lifetime score of 99%. We here also honored by the presence of Maryland Secretary of Planning, Richard Hall.

We are so grateful to our hosts, O'Brien's Oyster Bar and Restaurant. An icon on Main Street, O'Brien's is well on its way to sustainability in its operations and the staff proudly displayed this. From growing veggies and herbs in its own garden to the use of biodegradable trash bags and greenware cups, the establishment is doing its part for the environment. Read more about their practices on our website. 

And how about those tasty and ample appetizers? We want to thank Chef Herman for his efforts and O'Brien's staff Kenny and Chris for taking good care of us.

We also owe a big thank you to the Chesapeake Legal Alliance for sponsoring our event. The Alliance is a not-for-profit network of lawyers who contribute their time and professional skills to representing environmental organizations, citizens' associations, and individuals in efforts to improve the health of the Chesapeake and its tributaries. They are doing fabulous work and deserve our support. We are honored to be affiliated with the Alliance.

Thank you also to Russell Rankin, owner of eCruisers, the all-electric vehicles that worked free that night to shuttle Summit attendees to our event.

And finally, a big thank you to our volunteers. We cannot put on Green Drinks events without help and Leslie Trott Gibbons-Neff, Cathie Trogdon, and Mariel Yarbrough worked almost all night signing in and greeting our guests. When asked they will say that it's a lot of fun -- and it is -- but it's also exhausting! We are so lucky to have them and the rest of our Green Drinks advisory group members helping us every month.

We've got big plans for February and March! See below. 

Cheers,

State Legislation

The point of the last Green Drinks was to bring people together to meet and  discuss the important environmental legislation coming before the General Assembly. That is why we teamed up with the Citizens' Campaign for the Environment, the coalition of organizations that put on the 19th Annual Maryland Environmental Legislative Summit.

Now that the Summit is over, we all need to keep up to date on how the legislation is progressing and we need to let our legislators know how we want them to vote -- in committee and on the floor.

Annapolis Green is doing its part to keep you informed on the issues through the web, our radio show, and Green Drinks. 

On the web, please have a look at our General Assembly page for links that will keep you informed. On the radio, we are delving into most of the important legislative issues in our weekly program, Living Green in Annapolis.

You can listen to these past programs right from our website by clicking here.

• Environmental Outlook for the 2013 Legislative Session
• 2013 Legislative Session Environmental Issues: Offshore Wind and Hydraulic Fracturing
• 2013 Legislative Session Environmental Issues: Smart on Pesticides (airing tonight)