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
Bob Dinneen
Biography provided by participant
Dinneen is the President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), the national trade association for the U.S. ethanol industry. As such, he is the ethanol industry's lead lobbyist before the Congress and Administration.
Dinneen joined the RFA in 1988 as Legislative Director, and became President in July of 2001. In 2008 he was named one of the top lobbyists by Washington, DC's The Hill newspaper. Dinneen currently serves on the DOE/USDA Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee.
Dinneen has presented testimony before the Congress and Federal agencies on numerous occasions and represented the ethanol industry's interests at state, national and international forums.
Prior to joining the RFA, Dinneen worked on Capitol Hill for various members of Congress and Congressional committees. Dinneen graduated from the Catholic University of America with a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science.
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