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
Seth Roberts
Biography provided by participant
Seth Roberts is the director of Energy & Climate Change policy for Dow and is responsible for the management of the company's position and global advocacy activities in the areas of Energy and Climate Change. In this role, Roberts works closely with industry organizations, government, and Dow customers to identify and develop new solutions to address energy and climate change challenges.
Roberts joined Dow in 1991 and prior to his current position served as commercial director of feedstocks for Dow Europe in Horgen, Switzerland. In this role, he had global responsibility in supplying more than $10 billion annually in hydrocarbon feedstocks to major Dow sites. Activities included long-term planning, trading, asset optimization and equity management.
Previously, Roberts helped to establish Dow's commodity risk management team to manage Dow's North American exposures to natural gas, crude oil and hydrocarbon feedstocks. Roberts began his career working as an engineer at Dow's Plaquemine, Louisiana site and also held roles in business analysis and Six Sigma.
Roberts holds an MBA from Louisiana State University and a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Mississippi State University. He is a Certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt as well as a Registered Professional Engineer.
He currently serves on the energy steering team for the American Chemistry Council and also represents Dow at the Pew Center for Global Climate Change.
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