Thomas Gibson, President & CEO, American Iron and Steel Institute
Biography provided by participant
Gibson became head of the American Iron and Steel Institute in September, coming to the group from the American Chemistry Council where he served as senior vice president of advocacy. Prior to joining the council, he was senior vice president of government affairs for the Portland Cement Association. Before that, he served at the Environmental Protection Agency as chief of staff and as associate administrator for policy, economics, and innovation.
Gibson's government service also includes a stint as majority deputy staff director and majority counsel on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. He served private-sector clients in regulatory and legislative affairs with Don Clay Associates, Inc. He also worked for Raytheon Company and served five years in the U.S. Navy.
Gibson received his law degree from Georgetown University. He holds a Master of Marine Affairs degree from the University of Rhode Island and a B.S. from the United States Naval Academy.
Manufacturing Sector At Risk If cutting manufacturing is the path to achieving climate goals, Senator Boxer has introduced the perfect bill to do the job. Senator Boxer’s bill is headed in the wrong direction, and definitely is a step backward from the Waxman-Markey bill. At the EPW hearings, Senator Boxer announced "we have already made 8-9% emissions reductions, so the real goal (20%) is easy to meet," without acknowledging this as being the result of the greatest economic collapse since the Great Depression. This is not the kind of logic you want to use to bolster your defense of a… Read more
Higher Economic Burdens At this point, we can only characterize this bill is a major step backwards from the House version. It has major segments concerning energy intensive industries missing, and calls for a 20% absolute emissions reduction by 2020. Clearly, a 20 percent emissions reduction by 2020 places a higher burden on our economy in general (compared to 17% in the House bill) and this burden would be particularly acute in the manufacturing sector. For example, does a 20% reduction (vs. 17% in the House) not place even more cost pressure on energy prices? The bill lacks specificity in the energy intensive provisions to give us… Read more
Implementing new emissions standards for vehicles does not mean there will be a decrease in safety. In fact, the American Iron and Steel Institute’s Steel Market Development Institute is developing stronger, lighter and more affordable grades of advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) that will help automakers achieve the new tough standards announced by President Obama. Today’s AHSS can reduce a vehicle’s structural weight by as much as 25 to 32 percent – helping to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions – while remaining the strong and safe material for which steel is known. In addition, the use of advanced high-strength… Read more
Biography provided by participant
