Publication Items

Ohio Utilities Seek To Keep Reasons for Public "Bailout" Secret from Public [1]

Three major electric utilities want the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to make ratepayers pay for aging and unprofitable coal and nuclear generation plants in that state. But the ratepayers — the utilities claim — aren't entitled to know whether they might be ripped off.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Consumer [3]
Economy & Business [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [6]
Region:
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [7]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Ohio Utilities Seek To Keep Reasons for Public "Bailout" Secret from Public [1]
Tracking the Fracking Boom [9]

In this excerpt from the latest issue of SEJournal (Fall), Bobby Magill's special report offers coverage basics and questions to ask when you are reporting on the spread of shale oil and gas development.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [5]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Tracking the Fracking Boom [9]
"Fukushima: The Story of a Nuclear Disaster" [11]

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [12]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [13]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [14]
Health [15]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [6]
People & Population [16]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
Asia [18]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about "Fukushima: The Story of a Nuclear Disaster" [11]
Read the Congressional Reports You're Not Supposed To Read [19]

Journalists hurrying to get up to speed on environmental or energy issues can get objective background from reports by the Congressional Research Service (an arm of the Library of Congress), which does not release them to the taxpaying public that funded them. We thank the Federation of American Scientists' Government Secrecy Project for publishing them.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [20]
Disasters [13]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Health [15]
Laws & Regulations [21]
Military [22]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [6]
Science [23]
Transportation [24]
Wildlife [25]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Read the Congressional Reports You're Not Supposed To Read [19]
Pacificorp Claims the Birds Its Turbines Kill Are Trade Secret [26]

Power company Pacificorp has gone to court to prevent the Interior Department from disclosing how many birds are found dead at its wind-energy turbine sites. AP reporter Dina Cappiello has been writing an investigative series on the birds, including eagles, killed at wind farms in the U.S. The series found that federal regulators have not prosecuted or penalized wind-energy companies when their turbines kill birds and — the government has helped keep the scope of bird mortality secret.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [27]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Wildlife [25]
Region:
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [28]
Northwest (OR WA) [29]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Pacificorp Claims the Birds Its Turbines Kill Are Trade Secret [26]
Did Halliburton Buy Baker Hughes Silence on Fracking Chemicals? [30]

It seemed like good news when Baker Hughes, one of the world's largest oilfield services companies, announced in Oct 2014 that it would start disclosing all the chemicals it used in its fracking operation. Now Halliburton, an even larger oilfield services company, is buying Baker Hughes. In a $34.6 billion merger. Or is it a hostile takeover?

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Economy & Business [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Politics [31]
Pollution [32]
Water & Oceans [33]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Did Halliburton Buy Baker Hughes Silence on Fracking Chemicals? [30]
Washington Cities Map Crude-By-Rail Routes. Other States? [34]

Here's an idea: let people know where 100-car trainloads of crude oil might be threatening their safety. After the July 2013 Lac-Mégantic disaster that killed 47, people might want to know about this. And the Federal Railroad Administration officially agrees — saying railroads can't hide this information. Now the Association of Washington Cities has an online map for that.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [13]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Transportation [24]
Region:
Northwest (OR WA) [29]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Washington Cities Map Crude-By-Rail Routes. Other States? [34]
Exxon Claims 900,000 Pages of Secrets on Arkansas Spill [35]

Yes, the pipeline is publicly regulated. Yes, the March 2013 rupture of Exxon's Pegasus Pipeline in Mayflower, Arkansas, quite publicly polluted people's yards and homes. Yes, it is publicly known that there were defects and poor maintenance on the pipeline. But 900,000 pages of documents that might show Exxon's neglect are being claimed as "confidential" by the company as it tries to defend against a class-action lawsuit.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [13]
Economy & Business [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Pollution [32]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [36]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Exxon Claims 900,000 Pages of Secrets on Arkansas Spill [35]
Why Doesn't Congress Want You To Read These Reports? [37]

For decades, Congress has refused to release taxpayer-funded reports by the Congressional Research Service. Fortunately, the Federation of American Scientists' Government Secrecy Project gets them and releases them. Here are some new explainers that may be of use to environmental journalists.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [38]
Air [39]
Climate Change [20]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Natural Resources [40]
Pollution [32]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Why Doesn't Congress Want You To Read These Reports? [37]
Chemical Accident Data Won't Be Bottled Up [41]

While the idea that government neglect and public ignorance are the right approach to chemical safety and security has lost some credence, information on chemical accidents is still hard to come by. Here are tips as well as news about the National Response Center's database of oil and chemical spills.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [42]
Disasters [13]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Chemical Accident Data Won't Be Bottled Up [41]

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