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 Schwartz
Biography provided by participant
Michael Schwartz is presently Chief Executive Officer of New Wave Energy Capital Partners; a firm that focuses on making investments in large scale electric generation and providing strategic advisory services to both strategic and financial investors. Until recently he served as Senior Vice President- Policy, Strategy and Strategic Initiatives at Duke Energy Corp. He had a key role in creating Duke's renewable energy business as well as a Duke carbon business which included investments in high quality carbon offsets as well as carbon capture and storage. In came to Duke in 2006 after over two decades of experience across the US energy industry including oil/gas, coal utilities and alternative energy.
Mike earned his MA and PhD from Princeton University in Chemical Engineering. He also holds BS and MS degrees in Chemical Engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of NYU.
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