SkyTruth Launches Online Environmental Accident Mapper

October 19, 2011–Reporters can now get a better picture of breaking environmental pollution events via SkyTruth Alerts on air and water pollution incidents, toxic spills, and more.

Texas Censors Climate Science; Sparks Scientists' Revolt

October 19, 2011–After officials appointed by presidential candidate Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) deleted references to climate change from a report on Galveston Bay, other scientists asked that their names be disassociated from the report.

Access to Environmental Info Will Be an Issue at Rio+20

October 5, 2011–In June 2012, the nations of the world will convene in Rio de Janiero for the 20th anniversary of the landmark 1992 Rio Conference on Environment and Development that set the stage for a number of important treaties, including the Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

DHS: Taking the "Public" Out of Public Affairs

October 5, 2011–A frustrated Federal Times reporter filed a Freedom-of-Information-Act request for the names and phone numbers of all DHS press officers. When he finally got the 58-page list of names, the agency had blacked out all the work phones, cell phones, and e-mail addresses.

J-Groups at Press Club: Obama’s Science Openness Glass Only Half Full

October 5, 2011–The session, before an audience of journalists at the Press Club and another audience online, included representatives of the Columbia Journalism Review, the Associated Press, Politico, the Society of Environmental Journalists, the Association of Health Care Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, and the National Association of Science Writers. The EPA declined to attend.

Why Does the CIA Keep Climate a Secret?

October 5, 2011–A historian at the National Security Archives made a Freedom of Information Act request in March 2010 to the CIA’s Center on Climate Change and National Security (CCCNS). On Sept. 16, 2011, the CIA finally responded, telling Richelson that all the material he requested was classified and thus exempt from FOIA.

Appeals Court Orders Release of Timber-Trade Records

September 21, 2011–Details and documents on the 2006 US-Canada Softwood Lumber Agreement will be released after a federal appeals court ruled Sept. 16, 2011, against claims by the Office of the US Trade Representative that the documents, sought by the Center for Biological Diversity and Conservation Northwest, were exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.

CJR Probes Press Office Minders, Permissions at Fed Science Agencies

September 21, 2011–A joint investigation by Columbia Journalism Review and ProPublica into the Obama administration's science openness policies offered only faint praise for Obama's accomplishments. Nearly 400 of roughly 2,100 invited journalists responded to their survey, and they gave both the Bush and Obama administrations poor marks for openness at science agencies.

Florida Court Won't Order OSHA To Withhold Images of Orca-Trainer Death

September 21, 2011–Judge Gregory Presnell ruled that the federal Freedom of Information Act did not allow an injunction before the agency itself had made its decision on whether to release the records.

Indiana GOPer Reintroduces Federal Shield Law

September 21, 2011–Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) has reintroduced a bill that would establish a limited federal protection for journalists when prosecutor and courts seek to compel them to disclose their confidential sources. A similar measure died on the Senate floor at the end of the last Congress.