Group Sues Interior for Failure to Disclose Correspondence with Wind Industry

June 27, 2012–The American Bird Conservancy has gone to court after the Interior Department stonewalled its Freedom-of-Information-Act requests for correspondence between feds and the wind industry on how potential wind projects in 10 states might affect birds and bats.

E-Mail Disclosure Could Play Role in BP Gulf Spill Case

June 13, 2012–A federal judge has denied BP's bid to see 21 e-mails and other documents sent between the White House and other federal agencies. More chilling, perhaps, was BP's effort to get e-mails sent by two private-sector scientists in an apparent effort to discredit their work.

Enviros Challenge Transparency of Virginia Uranium Mining Deliberations

June 13, 2012–A company wants to mine Virginia's major uranium deposit so the state formed a multi-agency panel to study ending the three-decade ban on uranium mining. That panel hired a consulting firm that critics say was stacked with experts affiliated with the nuclear industry.

New Ohio Law Limits Disclosure of Fracking Fluid Ingredients

May 30, 2012–The Ohio legislature cleared a fracking bill May 24, 2012 that increases inspections of wells and requires drillers to hold liability insurance. But Reuters reports: "Many Democrats said the bill paves the way for the industry to hide information about toxic chemicals that could contaminate groundwater."

BP To Get Gulf Oil Spill Information Withheld from Public

April 18, 2012–After complaints from BP, the US government agreed to give the company evidence of the basis for its calculation of the flow rate from the stricken Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico. The government will hand over to BP some 100 documents about the size of the 2010 oil spill that have not yet been made public.

New Arizona Law Limits Disclosure of Companies' Environmental Self-Audits

April 18, 2012–The information would still have to be provided to the state. Companies would not gain immunity from enforcement merely by auditing themselves.

Boots on the Ground at Annual SEJ Gathering

April 15, 2012–

Iowa Outlaws Some Undercover Investigations As Other States Mull Bills

March 7, 2012–Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (pictured) signed the so-called "Ag Gag" bill into law March 2, 2012, making it a crime to obtain access to an agricultural facility "under false pretenses" — without defining "false pretenses." Does this apply to hidden cameras? Animal rights activists have often resorted to hidden cameras — and shared with news media photos and videos of shocking cruelty to animals.

Va. Supreme Court Denies Cuccinelli Access to Climate Scientist Emails

March 7, 2012–Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R, pictured at left), who avows himself a global warming skeptic, had sought from the University of Virginia grant applications by former U.Va. climate scientist Michael Mann, creator of the "hockey stick" graph, and emails between Mann and other scientists.

Despite High Court, Navy Keeps WA Town in Dark on Explosion Threat

February 22, 2012–A landmark Supreme Court decision awarded Port Townsend residents the right to know about the potential location of explosives on the Indian Island Naval Magazine near their town. After losing the case, the Defense Department bolstered its legal grounds for secrecy by asking Congress to slip into the 2012 Defense Authorization an amendment creating a new statutory exemption to FOIA for the DOD.