Energy & Environment: Markey Wants Answers on Rare Earths
• Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., "is pressing the Obama administration for information about alleged Chinese restrictions on the export of rare earth minerals used in defense and energy technologies, warning of threats to U.S. interests," The Hill reports.
• "Three months after BP capped its runaway well in the Gulf of Mexico, the state of Louisiana is still building a chain of sand berms off its coast to block and capture oil even as federal officials and many scientists argue that the effort will prove pointless," the New York Times reports.
• An Idaho couple has "sued the state to stop the shipments by Imperial Oil and ConocoPhillips" to an oil sands site in Canada, "arguing that the" truck loads delivered there "would threaten the integrity of Idaho's historic portion of U.S. 12, as well as the safety of communities that depend on it as the main road in and out of the area," the Times also reports. "National environmental groups and climate change activists are supporting their efforts, seeing a broader opportunity to stall development of Canada's oil sands, which they denounce as a dirty source of energy. "
• "Combating climate change has long taken a back seat to coal production in West Virginia, but in the hard-fought House race in this state's 1st district, global warming hasn't even made it onto the bus," The Hill reports. "In interviews on Thursday, both the Democratic and Republican nominees for Congress voiced skepticism of the science behind global warming, and the Republican, David McKinley, flatly called concerns about climate change 'an attack on coal.'"
Contributor
Bill Johnson
Biography provided by participant
Bill Johnson is chairman, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Progress Energy, Inc. He became chairman and CEO on October 12, 2007. He served as president and chief operating officer from January 2005 until October 2007. Johnson has been with Progress Energy (previously CP&L) in a number of roles since 1992, including group president for Energy Delivery, president and chief executive officer for Progress Energy Service Company, and general counsel and secretary for Progress Energy, Inc.
Before joining Progress Energy, Johnson was a partner with the Raleigh office of Hunton & Williams, where he specialized in the representation of utilities. He previously served as a law clerk to the Honorable J. Dickson Phillips Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Johnson currently serves on the boards and executive committees of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) and the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI). He is also a member of the boards of directors of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO). In addition, he serves on numerous other community and charitable organizations.
He graduated from Duke University summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in history, and received a law degree with high honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1982.
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