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
Janet Larsen
Biography provided by participant
Janet Larsen is the Director of Research and one of the incorporators of the Earth Policy Institute, an independent environmental research organization based in Washington, DC. She is a co-author of The Earth Policy Reader and has managed the research for all the institute's publications, including the Plan B series authored by EPI president Lester Brown. Larsen's writings, which cover topics ranging from natural resource availability to population growth and climate change, have been featured in a number of print, on-line, and radio outlets. Prior to the creation of Earth Policy Institute in 2001, Larsen worked at Worldwatch Institute, providing research support for State of the World and contributing to Vital Signs. Larsen holds a degree in Earth Systems from Stanford University. She has conducted ecology fieldwork on the Chilean coast and in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest and continues to enjoy spending time outdoors.
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