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
Kevin S. Curtis
Biography provided by participant
Kevin Curtis is Chief Program & Advocacy Officer at The Climate Reality Project. Kevin's responsibilities include managing the implementation of the programmatic and advocacy aspects of The Climate Reality Project's various initiatives and campaigns. When Kevin first joined the organization in June 2009, he was responsible for managing its involvement in and leadership of the coalition campaign to pass climate legislation through Congress. Prior to joining The Climate Reality Project, Kevin had gained a decade of leadership experience in senior roles in the environmental advocacy movement. Most recently, Kevin served as Deputy Director of the Pew Environment Group, where he was responsible for campaign operations as well as the global warming and U.S. public lands campaigns. Kevin also served as Senior Vice President for Program at the National Environmental Trust (NET), a multi-issue environmental advocacy and communications organization.
Prior to joining the environmental advocacy movement, Kevin was a senior facilitator at the Keystone Center, where he facilitated and mediated a variety of negotiations and other processes between environmental advocates, business, government and other stakeholders on a wide range of environmental and scientific policy issues. Over the course of his several decades of experience in Washington, Kevin has developed a solid grounding in the substance and politics of energy policy as well as a host of other environmental and scientific issues. Originally from Colorado, Kevin received his MBA from Yale and his BA in Philosophy from the University of Colorado.
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