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
Robert Weissman
Biography provided by participant
Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen, is an expert on economic, health care, trade and globalization, intellectual property and regulatory policy, and issues related to financial accountability and corporate responsibility. He has written extensively on corporate accountability, access to medicines, corporate influence over the political process, the World Trade Organization and regulation of the financial markets. He has worked to lower pharmacy prices for AIDS victims and others in the developing world. His top priorities include climate change, health care reform, financial regulation and campaign finance reform.
Background:
• Director of the corporate accountability organization Essential Action.
• Editor, Multinational Monitor, a magazine that tracks corporate actions worldwide.
• Public interest attorney at Center for Study of Responsive Law.
• Member of the Ohio bar.
• Earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he graduated magna cum laude.
Media Appearances:
Weissman has appeared on CBS, CNN, PBS, CNBC, NPR and Marketplace Radio, and has been published and quoted in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, USA Today, the Economist, the Financial Times, the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Time Magazine.
Recent Responses