Publication Items

Did EPA Press Office Retaliate for Unfavorable NY Times Article? [1]

It appears to an outside observer that NYT reporter Coral Davenport was uninvited to EPA's "Waters of the U.S." (WOTUS) rule announcement phone call as retaliation for an unfavorable story she had written about the agency's public affairs operation the week before. EPA says not.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [3]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Water & Oceans [5]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Did EPA Press Office Retaliate for Unfavorable NY Times Article? [1]
What You're Not Supposed To Know About Secret Environmental Treaty [7]

The public is not allowed to know the terms of the draft Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact likely to come up for a Senate vote this year. Yet the Senate has already begun voting on terms for considering the treaty, which may allow other nations to override U.S. health, safety, and environmental protection laws. Fortunately, WikiLeaks has already published a leaked version of the environmental chapter of the TPP treaty.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Politics [9]
Health [10]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Natural Resources [11]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about What You're Not Supposed To Know About Secret Environmental Treaty [7]
Is Wyoming Ban on Reporting Environmental Harm Unconstitutional? [12]

A newly enacted Wyoming law seems to be aimed at criminalizing the collection and reporting of stream pollution or other environmental harm. It creates a unique new category of crime called "data trespass." Just what the law, signed in March by Gov. Matt Mead (R), means or does is being debated hotly.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [13]
Agriculture [14]
Environmental Politics [9]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Pollution [15]
Region:
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [16]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Is Wyoming Ban on Reporting Environmental Harm Unconstitutional? [12]
New Oil Train Regs Go Backward on Public's Right to Know Risks [17]

Since U.S. oil production started booming, the news has been full of tanker trains blowing up. Under a May 2014 emergency order, the Federal Railway Administration increased requirements that railroads disclose oil train routes. But a new regulation issued May 1, 2015, leaves the public — and firefighters — with less information about the risks they face. Photo: The latest oil train derailment and explosion, today, in ND/Curt Bemson via AP.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [18]
Energy & Fuel [19]
Laws & Regulations [4]
People & Population [20]
Planning & Growth [21]
Transportation [22]
Region:
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [23]
Northwest (OR WA) [24]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about New Oil Train Regs Go Backward on Public's Right to Know Risks [17]
BP Deepwater Horizon Anniversary: Follow the Money [25]

April 20, 2015, marks the fifth anniversary of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, one of the largest environmental disasters in U.S. history. The story is far from over. If you are covering the legacy of the spill, SEJ is offering two special TipSheets by the Advocate's Amy Wold that will help you get the facts and background. Photo: Oiled endangered Ridley's turtle. Credit: Carolyn Cole/ LA Times; courtesy NOAA.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [26]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [18]
Energy & Fuel [19]
Environmental Health [8]
Fish & Fisheries [27]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Natural Resources [11]
Pollution [15]
Water & Oceans [5]
Wildlife [28]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [29]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about BP Deepwater Horizon Anniversary: Follow the Money [25]
FOIA-Strengthening Bills Come Back to Life in House and Senate [30]

A bill to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act awaits Senate floor action. But the Obama administration, which once pledged to be the most open in history, has so far been strangely silent. Crickets. "Worries from the agencies are whispered into lawmakers' ears," wrote E&E Publishing's Kevin Bogardus.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [31]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about FOIA-Strengthening Bills Come Back to Life in House and Senate [30]
Media Coalition Wins Overturn of Blankenship Gag Order on Appeal [32]

After opposing gag and sealing orders in the trial of former Massey coal CEO Don Blankenship on charges of conspiracy to violate federal mine safety and health standards — and cover-up — a news media coalition led by Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press won access to the trial from a federal appeals court March 5, 2015.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [18]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Natural Resources [11]
Region:
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [33]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Media Coalition Wins Overturn of Blankenship Gag Order on Appeal [32]
"Nature’s Trust: Environmental Law for a New Ecological Age" [34]

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [35]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [4]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about "Nature’s Trust: Environmental Law for a New Ecological Age" [34]
News Media Coalition Appeals Gag Orders in Blankenship Case [36]

After a judge refused to reverse most of the secrecy ruling around the 2010 Upper Big Branch mine disaster caused by Massey Energy's safety violations, including indictment of the company's former CEO, media outlets appealed. Now a coalition of many more media groups, led by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, have filed a friend-of-the-court brief opposing the secrecy ruling as unconstitutional.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [18]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Natural Resources [11]
Region:
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [33]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about News Media Coalition Appeals Gag Orders in Blankenship Case [36]
Groups FOIA Federal Rules for Allowing Petroleum Export Ban Exceptions [37]

For decades, U.S. politicians have made energy independence a patriotic platitude — with one result being a ban on exporting crude oil produced in the U.S. Now some oil companies are getting exceptions to the export ban for a product called "condensate," and the Commerce Department won't say why. So a coalition of environmental groups have filed a Freedom of Information Act request to find out.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [19]
Government [31]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Groups FOIA Federal Rules for Allowing Petroleum Export Ban Exceptions [37]

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