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
Michael C. Formica
Biography provided by participant
Michael Formica is chief environmental counsel for the National Pork Producers Council, an association of 43 state pork producer organizations and the voice in Washington, D.C., of America's 67,000 pork producers. In this capacity, Formica works with federal agencies, the White House, and congressional lawmakers on legislative and regulatory aspects of environmental policy concerning air quality, water quality and waste.
Before joining the National Pork Producers Council, Formica was director of Environment Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. From September 1998 to May 2003, he was an associate attorney with Baise & Miller, P.C., in Washington, D.C., representing agricultural clients on air, waste and water issues as well as on eminent domain and 5th Amendment takings proceedings.
Formica received a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Rhode Island and his law degree from Vermont Law School. He has been admitted to the bar for the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the U.S. District Court for the D.C. Circuit and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.
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