E-Mail: White House Ordered Scientists To Lowball BP Spill Rate Estimate

January 25, 2012–The e-mail pressuring agency scientists was written by USGS Director Marcia McNutt, and was never meant to be made public. Against strong agency resistance, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility forced disclosure of the e-mail with a Freedom-of-Information-Act lawsuit.

Some Secret CRS Reports You May Want To Read

January 25, 2012–Here, courtesy of the Federation of American Scientists, are some recent Congressional Research Service backgrounders that may be useful to environment/energy reporters, on chemical facility security, nuclear power plant design and seismic safety considerations, and proposed Keystone XL pipeline legal issues.

House Adopts Online Publication Standard

January 12, 2012–It remains to be seen how successful the House will be in timely posting of electronic versions of bills — especially when they are thousand-page appropriations bills being rammed through at the last minute. The WatchDog will be watching to see if bills are published electronically well before subcommittee markups begin.

Who Are Your Local "Sunshine" Heroes?

January 12, 2012–Somewhere near you there is probably an activist who has been doggedly seeking documents from a local, state, or federal agency which has been reluctant to provide them. Their story might well be worth telling. Sunshine Week, March 11-17, 2012, will celebrate "Local Heroes" with a roundup of such stories.

Federal Law Fails To Protect Health and Safety Whistleblowers

December 14, 2011–One example is Walt Tamosaitis, who works for an Energy Department subcontractor. He told a Senate panel on December 6, 2011, that when he raised technical issues about whether nuclear waste cleanup was being done right at the Hanford Site in Washington, he was taken off the project and exiled to the basement.

Sunlight Foundation FOIA Seeks To Learn Who Visited Abramoff in Prison

December 14, 2011–Jack Abramoff, a former lobbyist convicted of mail fraud, is now on a book tour. At least one member of Congress visited him in prison. The federal Bureau of Prisons so far has not released any other names in response to Sunlight's FOIA request.

"Behind Closed Doors" Reports on Secret Regulatory Process

November 30, 2011–The Center for Progressive Reform looked at public records on 1,080 meetings held between October 2001 and June 2011 between the White House Office of Management and Budget and lobbyists from various interest groups. Results show the Obama administration is as bad as the Bush administration when it comes to secret meetings with industry to weaken environmental health and safety regulations.

Toolbox: New CPR Database Helps You Track Secret Industry-OMB Meetings

November 30, 2011–Although details of what is said between lobbyists and the White House officials who rewrite agency rules remain largely secret, the Center for Progressive Reform's searchable database allows you to track whether OMB is meeting its deadlines, whether a meeting is linked to an OIRA regulatory review, and whether OIRA changed the rule.

At Last: Study Confirms EPA 'Friday Surprise' Press Release Trend

November 16, 2011–Researchers at the nonprofit and nonpartisan think tank Resources for the Future fed into their computers some 21,493 press releases issued by EPA between 1994 and 2009, confirming reporters' long-time suspicions.

Terrified CIA Urged To Shed Secrecy About Climate Threats

November 16, 2011–The Central Intelligence Agency is spending untold millions to study the national security threats presented by climate change. Now the Pentagon's Defense Science Board (DSB) is urging that another, new office be created to do the same job, for more untold millions.