Court Lifts Settlement Secrecy in Pennsylvania Fracking Case

March 27, 2013–The unsealed documents revealed that the potential plaintiffs had received $750,000 from frackers Range Resources, which has been accused of high-handed tactics. The case is important in several respects — even beyond the broader controversy over sealing of civil settlements.

Fracking Disclosure Loses a Round in Wyoming

March 27, 2013–Natrona County District Judge Catherine Wilking ruled March 25, 2013, that a company could withhold as trade secret the ingredients used in the fluids it pumped under high pressure to fracture gas- and oil-bearing rock. Environmentalists had sought to make the ingredient list public.

State Department KXL Report Secrecy Hides Conflict, Criticism

March 27, 2013–The State Department is trying to hide at least two different kinds of information about its Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Keystone XL pipeline, including graying out key information in the work histories of people involved in the consultation process.

Recent Secret CRS Reports Liberated

March 13, 2013–Now you can read reports on key topics on the environmental beat — compiled by the Congressional Research Service and paid for with your tax dollars. Congress does not allow CRS to release them to the public. Thanks to the Government Secrecy Project at the Federation of American Scientists for making them available.

Judge Rules BLM Must Disclose Companies Nominating Drilling Tracts

February 27, 2013–A small chink appeared this month in the armor of nondisclosure that protects the oil and gas industry's relationship with federal leasing agencies. BLM had refused to disclose the nominating entities. Federal District Judge Matsch ruled that the Freedom of Information Act requires the disclosure.

Does New Interior Draft Put Fracking Data Under Industry Thumb?

February 13, 2013–A leaked draft of the replacement rule suggested Interior would leave handling of fracking data to the industry-run "FracFocus" project, which has come under criticism by environmental and watchdog groups for being hard to use and incomplete.

Group Sues California over Enforcement of Fracking Disclosure

January 30, 2013–The Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity filed suit in Alameda County Superior Court charging that the California Department of Conservation's Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources was not following the state's own law.

Analysis: Obama’s Second Term — Enviro Breakthrough or Train Wreck?

January 15, 2013–In this excerpt from the latest issue of SEJournal (Winter), Peter Dykstra's analysis helps environmental journalists sort through the convergence of money, politics, ideology and nature.

The New New Deal

January 15, 2013–

Do Mainstream Media Disclose "Experts'" Links to Oil and Gas Industry?

January 2, 2013–Too often stories fail to disclose such industry ties, which might call into question the experts' objectivity. The Checks and Balances Project, an energy watchdog group, did an analysis of coverage in 60 publications over a five-year period with very interesting results.