Contributor
Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass.
Biography provided by participant
Rep. Ed Markey was named by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2007 to be chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, which is responsible for tackling our nation's dependence on imported oil and the threat posed by global climate change. In addition, Markey continues to serve as chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, in charge of ensuring our telecommunications laws and regulations continue to spur technological innovation, competition, consumer choice, and privacy protection. He also serves on the House Natural Resources Committee and the Homeland Security Committee.First elected in 1976, Markey has championed consumer rights, the environment, technology innovation, human rights, health reform, the elimination of large monopolies, halting the proliferation of nuclear weapons and strengthening our homeland security.
He attended Boston College and Boston College Law School, served in the U.S. Army Reserve, and was elected to the Massachusetts State House where he served two terms before coming to Congress.
Recent Responses
April 18, 2012 12:14 PM
Exporting Gas = Exporting Jobs
In 2011, for the first time in 62 years, the United States became a net exporter of oil products. To consumers who are watching their family budgets being crushed by rising gas prices, this is a shocking development.
VIDEO LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjKfNZUdag4&feature=player_embedded
American drivers are increasingly unhappy that the price of gas is fueling record profits for big oil companies, sending trillions to OPEC nations like Iran, and keeping an oil market casino open for Wall Street speculators. Now, Americans learn that their oil, produced on land paid for by their tax dollars, is being sold to China, Brazil and other nations so that big oil companies can make even more profits.
But ask an American manufacturer of steel, plast
Continue ReadingJune 29, 2011 10:47 AM
Tapping Reserve Lowers Consumers' Prices
Enough. That was the clear message President Obama sent last week to OPEC, Big Oil and speculators who have been wreaking economic havoc on the American consumer when he released 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). The US was joined by our international partners, including Germany, France, the UK, Japan, and South Korea who also released oil reserves, pushing the total global oil injection to 60 million barrels.
This year’s gas price shocks have hurt families and small business long enough. President Obama needed to take action to prevent inflated prices pull our economy off the road to recovery.
The SPR currently holds 727 million barrels of oil. This oil was purchased by and belongs to the American people. I have called for the release of the SPR several times this year. In February, I was joined by my congressional colleagues Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Rep. Peter Welch and other Democratic members in sending a l
Continue ReadingAugust 25, 2010 12:29 PM
Dangerous Climate Picture Emerging
The headlines from the hottest year-to-date on record paint a dangerous climate picture, consistent with the overwhelming scientific evidence.
Based on the National Journal’s question, I think it’s important to distinguish between scientific skepticism and flat-out denial in the face of the facts.
Scientists, skeptical by both nature and training, always urge a dose of caution when looking at any one event as evidence of climate change. They look at the totality of events and discover patterns that help determine how our climate is changing.
Deniers, on the other hand, are eager opportunists, who will use single points of data, or single events (remember Snowmaggedon?) to claim that the patterns do not exist. Theirs is a world of scientific dishonesty and misinformation.
And it is the high level of professional skepticism--not the useless back-and-forth encouraged by deniers—that makes the overwhelming scientific consensus that climate change is real and caused
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