10 Key Open-Gov Resources for Environmental Journalists

03/10/2010 – In honor of Sunshine Week, which began March 14, the WatchDog serves up a meaty list of essential resources for journalists working to expose governmental secrets voters and taxpayers have a right to know about.

States Push Congress, EPA To End Toxic Trade Secrets

03/10/2010 – Do commercial products we have body contact with contain toxic chemicals? In too many cases, states and environmentalists are saying, the federal government forbids consumers from knowing.

Survey Finds Little Early Improvement in Science-Meddling Under Obama

03/10/2010 – George Washington University's Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy (SKAPP) followed up with 37 scientists at 13 federal agencies to see if conditions had improved at their agencies post-Bush. Survey says: Not really, or not yet.

White House May Urge Greater NEPA Transparency

03/10/2010 – New NEPA policies proposed in February by the Council on Environmental Quality cover climate impacts; findings of no impact and requirements for monitoring; categorical exclusions; and better tools for reporting to the public on NEPA activities.

Comments on Fed Agencies' Open Government Plans Due March 19

02/24/2010 – Various trackers are sorting through and compiling ideas, comments, and agencies' progress towards meeting the deadline.

FCC Broadband Plan May Promote Open Gov

02/24/2010 – John Wonderlich of the Sunlight Foundation has been tracking the Federal Communications Commission plan.

Forest Service Issues Gag Order to Employees on Talking to Reporters

02/24/2010 – Monongahela National Forest's public affairs officer recently directed employees there that, if contacted by national reporters on any issue or local reporters regarding national issues, they "cannot talk to the reporter"and suggested that the instructions came from "our Washington office."

OSHA Sampling Data Still Unavailable

02/24/2010 – A former Occupational Safety and Health Administration official requested the data under the Freedom of Information Act in 2005, but was denied. He sued, won in 2007, and now has the data, but OSHA has still not released the data to the public.

Secret GSA Contractor Database Could Reveal Waste, Fraud, Abuse

02/24/2010 – Jim Morris of the Sunlight Foundation reports on the Project on Government Oversight's (POGO) so-far unsuccessful efforts to FOIA the data.

SEJ Urges White House To Lose the "Minders"

02/24/2010 – SEJ wrote White House Communication Director Dan Pfeiffer asking for an end to the practice of requiring permission from the press office at federal agencies before reporters can talk to federal employees — and requiring Saddam-style PIO "minders" to sit in on interviews.