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
Stephen Eule
Biography provided by participant
Stephen D. Eule is the vice president for climate and technology at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy.
Previously, Eule was the director of the Office of Climate Change Policy & Technology at the U.S. Department of Energy. His prior experience includes a decade working in various public policy positions. He was a subcommittee staff director on the House Science Committee and also served as legislative director for Rep. Nick Smith. In addition, Eule was an environmental analyst in the Washington, D.C. office of New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman. Earlier, he worked for eight years as an Orkand Corporation consultant to the Energy Information Administration and at the Heritage Foundation, where he was assistant editor of the book Free Market Energy.
Eule earned a master of arts degree in geography from The George Washington University and a bachelor of science degree in biology from Southern Connecticut State College.
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