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.'"
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Blanche Lincoln
Biography provided by participant
On November 3, 1998, Senator Blanche L. Lincoln made history when she became the youngest woman ever elected to the United States Senate at the age of 38 - a milestone that still exist today. Lincoln made history again on September 9, 2009, when she became the first female to serve as Chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee in its 184-year history. She is now the national chair of the Small Businesses for Sensible Regulations.
During her 16 year career in the U.S. Congress, first as a two-term member of the House of Representatives and then as a two-term member of the U.S. Senate, she built a reputation as a results-oriented, bipartisan legislator. She served on the several Committees in Congress; including, the House Committee on Agriculture, House Energy and Commerce Committee, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Senate Special Committee on Aging, and the Senate Finance Committee and is widely recognized as a national leader in the areas of agriculture, anti-hunger, aging, healthcare, international trade, taxes, and energy policy.
As one of the Finance Committee's top-ranking Democrats, Lincoln was named the first woman Democratic Senator to lead a Finance Committee Subcommittee. During her time on the Finance Committee, she went on to Chair two Subcommittees and helped develop and pass legislation reducing taxes, improving healthcare, and expanding international trade.
A senior member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator Lincoln worked to produce bipartisan legislation improving energy efficiency and enhancing domestic energy supplies; including, nuclear and renewable sources.
In her fight against hunger, she founded the Senate Hunger Caucus and used her Chairmanship of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee to author and enact the largest investment in child nutrition programs ever. The new law was deficit neutral, established nutritional standards for school lunches for the first time, received strong bipartisan support, and was signed into law by President Obama.
As a farmer's daughter, she became known as a champion of production agriculture who fought to ensure that producers were able to continue to provide the safest, most abundant, and affordable supply of food and fiber to meet the global needs of the 21st century.
Senator Lincoln is a Helena, Arkansas native where her mother, Martha Kelly Lambert, still resides. She received a bachelor's degree from Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia and together with her husband, Dr. Steve Lincoln, are the proud parents of twin boys, Reece and Bennett. In her spare time, she enjoys duck hunting and fishing with her family.
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