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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Marvin Fertel
Biography provided by participant
Fertel has 35 years of experience consulting for electric utilities on issues related to designing, siting, licensing and managing both fossil and nuclear plants.
He has worked in executive positions with such organizations as Ebasco, Management Analysis Company and Tenera. In November 1990, he joined the U.S. Council for Energy Awareness as vice president of Technical Programs. With the formation of NEI in 1994, he became NEI's vice president of Nuclear Economics and Fuel Supply. He assumed his current position as head of the Nuclear Generation Division at NEI in March 2003. In November 2008, he was named acting president and chief executive officer.
Fertel is responsible for leading NEI's programs related to ensuring an effective and safety-focused regulatory process. He also directs industrywide efforts to ensure adequate security is provided at nuclear power plants and addresses generic technical issues related to commercial nuclear facilities.
He is responsible for programmatic activities that support the development of new commercial nuclear projects. He oversees NEI's activities related to the management of used nuclear fuel, including achieving success in the U.S. government's program for the storage and ultimate disposal of used nuclear fuel.
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