Rep. Joe Barton, the longest-serving member of the Texas congressional delegation, says he won’t be seeking re-election in 2018. Barton, a former chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, made the announcement last week, days after a nude photo of him surfaced online. The Republican has represented Texas’ 6th Congressional District, which includes Arlington and parts of Fort Worth, since 1985.

Mary-Louise Wagner is the new minority staff director for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee under the panel’s ranking Democrat, Maria Cantwell of Washington . Wagner previously was a senior policy adviser at the Department of Energy. She is replacing Angela Becker-Dippmann.

Richard Glick, recently the general counsel to Democrats on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, was sworn in as the newest member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). He joins Chairman Neil Chatterjee and Commissioner Rob Powelson, both Republicans, and Democrat Cheryl LaFleur. Still waiting to be sworn in is Kevin McIntyre, the co-leader of the global energy practice at law firm Jones Day. Glick will serve a term expiring in June 2022.

National Biodiesel Board members selected their trade association leadership last week.  NBB members voted to fill eight board member spots for two-year terms: Kent Engelbrecht, ADM; Ron Heck, Iowa Soybean Association; Steve Nogel, Ag Environmental Products; Ryan Pederson, North Dakota Soybean Council; Harry Simpson, Crimson Renewable Energy LP; Paul Soanes, RBP Port Neches LLC; Robert Stobaugh, Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board; and Chad Stone, REG Inc. Greg Anderson, Jennifer Case, Mike Cunningham, Tim Keaveney, Bob Morton, and Mike Rath continue to serve on the board.  The board also re-elected the current slate of officers with Kent Engelbrecht serving as chairman, Mike Cunningham as Vice Chairman, Greg Anderson as Treasurer and Chad Stone as Secretary.

Curt Ledford has joined the Clean Energy Project (CEP) as the new chairman of the board. Ledford, a partner at the law firm McDonald Carano, is a leading energy attorney in Nevada. He replaces Kathleen Drakulich, who joined the CEP board in 2011 and served four years as chair. In June, Drakulich, was appointed by Nevada Gov. Sandoval to the Second Judicial District Court.  Jon Wellinghoff, former Chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), also joins CEP’s board of directors. Dr. Karen Wayland, a nationally recognized energy expert, will take on the role of CEP’s executive director. She was a senior official at the Energy Department, where she established a team for state, local and tribal energy policy. Wayland previously did energy policy work for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Harry Reid and was the legislative director at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

She replaces Jennifer Taylor, who served as CEP’s executive director for two years.       

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