SEJ Urges Prompt, Full EPA Release of Ash Spill Testing Data

January 14, 2009–SEJ urged EPA Region 4 to release promptly and fully any environmental monitoring data it collects related to the December 2008 spill of coal ash from an east Tennessee impoundment.

CNN, Weather Channel Axe Environmental Units

December 31, 2008–At a time when public understanding of complex science and environmental issues grows critical, CNN laid off its entire science/enviro team and NBC's The Weather Channel fired the staff of the "Forecast Earth" environmental program.

Energy Department Midnight Reg Seeks To Bind Obama To Keep Old Secrets

December 17, 2008–The Energy Department in December 2008 published an 11th-hour proposed amendment to the Bush administration's secrecy rules that shroud the policies that brought Americans Enron, California blackouts, and $4 gasoline.

In a Pinch? On Deadline? Remember FOIA Friends

December 17, 2008–The Freedom of Information Act is still one of the most powerful tools in a reporter's toolbelt. Here's our short list of useful FOIA helpers.

Industry Keeps Secret the Gas-Drilling Toxins Seeping into Drinking Wells

December 17, 2008–A series of drinking-water contamination incidents have raised doubts about EPA's safety claims regarding hydraulic fracturing in domestic gas wells. And it's hard for people to get to the bottom of those claims when the identity of the chemicals injected during the process is protected as a "trade secret."

MSHA Publishes Long-Withheld (but Legally Required) FOIA Report

December 17, 2008–The Labor Department's Mine Safety and Health Administration finally released its Freedom of Information Act annual reports — after fighting veteran FOIA requester Mike Ravnitsky for some 18 months.

Federal Workers Union Wants Burrowers Lists

December 3, 2008–Federal employee unions want lists of political appointees whose status has been transferred to career civil service positions at the end of the Bush administration.

PACER Turns 20 — Still a Workhorse for Reporters

December 3, 2008–The PACER system puts many — but not all — federal court records on line. It's an easy-to-use information access tool for journalists.

SPJ Calls for New Congress, Prez To Pass Federal Shield Law

December 3, 2008–The Society of Professional Journalists has called on President-elect Obama and the incoming Congress to complete action on a federal shield law for journalists.

Terrorism Database Speaks of Environmental Secrecy

December 3, 2008–For the past decade, federal and state officials have put an immense amount of environmental information behind a veil of secrecy, justifying it on the grounds that the information could help terrorists. A look at the most comprehensive open-source terrorism database offers strong evidence that such fears are ill-founded.