Publication Items

Does New Interior Draft Put Fracking Data Under Industry Thumb? [1]

A leaked draft of the replacement rule suggested Interior would leave handling of fracking data to the industry-run "FracFocus" project, which has come under criticism by environmental and watchdog groups for being hard to use and incomplete.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [3]
Government [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Chemicals [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Does New Interior Draft Put Fracking Data Under Industry Thumb? [1]
Group Sues California over Enforcement of Fracking Disclosure [8]

The Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity filed suit in Alameda County Superior Court charging that the California Department of Conservation's Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources was not following the state's own law.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [5]
Chemicals [6]
Laws & Regulations [3]
Region:
California [9]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Group Sues California over Enforcement of Fracking Disclosure [8]
Analysis: Obama’s Second Term — Enviro Breakthrough or Train Wreck? [10]

Peter Dykstra's analysis helps environmental journalists sort through the convergence of money, politics, ideology and nature.
SEJ Publication Types:
Features [12]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [13]
Economy & Business [14]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Politics [15]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Analysis: Obama’s Second Term — Enviro Breakthrough or Train Wreck? [10]
Do Mainstream Media Disclose "Experts'" Links to Oil and Gas Industry? [16]

Too often stories fail to disclose such industry ties, which might call into question the experts' objectivity. The Checks and Balances Project, an energy watchdog group, did an analysis of coverage in 60 publications over a five-year period with very interesting results.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [17]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Economy & Business [14]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Do Mainstream Media Disclose "Experts'" Links to Oil and Gas Industry? [16]
"In the Lap of the Gods" [18]

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [19]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [20]
Economy & Business [14]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Journalism & Media [17]
People & Population [21]
Planning & Growth [22]
Region:
Asia [23]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about "In the Lap of the Gods" [18]
Coal Slurry Database May Help Reporters Find Problem Impoundments [24]

A fatal November 30, 2012, collapse of part of a coal-slurry impoundment in West Virginia served as a reminder of safety issues that may not be adequately regulated in some states and localities. You can locate local coal-slurry impoundments and information on their status with an online public database.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [17]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Disasters [25]
Region:
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [26]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Coal Slurry Database May Help Reporters Find Problem Impoundments [24]
NRC Board Orders Calif. Nuclear Plant To Turn Over Withheld Records [27]

Is the public entitled to see documents that may bear on the safety of a for-profit utility's plan to restart the flaw-stricken San Onofre nuclear plant in California? Maybe not. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board ruled the utility must turn the documents over to the board — but currently plans to keep them secret from the public.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Nuclear Power & Radiation [28]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Region:
California [9]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about NRC Board Orders Calif. Nuclear Plant To Turn Over Withheld Records [27]
Pennsylvania Newspapers Get Break in Fracking Disclosure Case [29]

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was joined by the Washington (PA) Observer-Reporter in a suit to unseal records of the July 2011 settlement of a case in which a family had sued four natural gas companies over damages they claimed were caused by hydraulic fracturing. The appeals court said a lower court had erred in throwing out the newspapers' case.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [17]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Region:
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [26]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Pennsylvania Newspapers Get Break in Fracking Disclosure Case [29]
Access to Fracking Info — Still Bad — Improved by Non-Gov Web Initiatives [30]

A geeky nonprofit watchdog group has done what government and private industry have failed to do; the group, SkyTruth, has made data about the ingredients in fracking fluid easily accessible to the public.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [31]
Health [32]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Access to Fracking Info — Still Bad — Improved by Non-Gov Web Initiatives [30]
Secret CRS Reports on Environmental Topics Published [33]

Here are more Congressional Research Service reports relevant to the environment/energy beat, published by the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Transportation [34]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Disasters [25]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Secret CRS Reports on Environmental Topics Published [33]

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