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
Peter Iwanowicz
Biography provided by participant
Peter M. Iwanowicz is Assistant Vice President with the American Lung Association. Peter directs the ALA's Healthy Air Campaign; an effort to protect the Clean Air Act.
Prior to his return to the ALA family, Peter was serving as the Acting Commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and as the Governor's Deputy Secretary for the Environment.
Before assuming these positions, Peter served as the Assistant Secretary for the Environment and was the very first Director of the New York State Office of Climate Change which was created in 2007. Peter's responsibilities as the head of the Office of Climate Change included overseeing the state's involvement in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), including serving as the chair of the RGGI Auction Committee. Peter also was the New York State representative to the International Carbon Action Partnership.
Before joining state government in 2007, Peter served as Vice President for the American Lung Association of New York State, where he directed the association's advocacy efforts.
Peter has also worked for the San Francisco-based Resource Renewal Institute promoting sustainability policies in New York State and worked for Albany, New York based Environmental Advocates of New York (EA-NY).
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