Publication Items

Leaked: New Secret CRS Explainers for the Environment-Energy Beat [1]

Here are some recent Congressional Research Service reports relevant to the environment and energy beat, thanks to the Federation of American Scientists' Government Secrecy Project.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Disasters [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Health [6]
Transportation [7]
Region:
Antarctica & Arctic [8]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Leaked: New Secret CRS Explainers for the Environment-Energy Beat [1]
Leaked Again: Secret CRS Reports for Environment Beat [10]

Here are the latest leaked explainers, written by the Congressional Research Service, that may be of use to environmental journalists.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [11]
Disasters [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Health [6]
Laws & Regulations [12]
Transportation [7]
Water & Oceans [13]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Leaked Again: Secret CRS Reports for Environment Beat [10]
Maine Law Hid Threats to Public from Oil Trains [14]

Maine passed a law in 2015 that allowed railroads to keep oil-train routing information from the public — over the governor's veto. In the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting's Pine Tree Watchdog, Dave Sherwood reports how the provision was a bait-and-switch.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Government [15]
Laws & Regulations [12]
People & Population [16]
Transportation [7]
Region:
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [17]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [18]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [19]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [20]
Northwest (OR WA) [21]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Maine Law Hid Threats to Public from Oil Trains [14]
Congressional Think Tank Reports Leaked Again [22]

Although you, as a taxpayer, pay for reports by the Congressional Research Service, Congress does not allow you to read them. Fortunately, somebody leaked these reports of interest to environmental journalists.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [5]
Fish & Fisheries [23]
Food [24]
Natural Resources [25]
Technology [26]
Transportation [7]
Water & Oceans [13]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Congressional Think Tank Reports Leaked Again [22]
Oregonian Reporter ‘Humanizes’ Harm [27]

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [28]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [5]
Natural Resources [25]
Transportation [7]
Region:
Northwest (OR WA) [21]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Oregonian Reporter ‘Humanizes’ Harm [27]
Read the Reports Congress Doesn't Want You To Read [29]

Here are some reports of possible interest to environmental journalists from the Congressional Research Service (CRS). Congress does not release them to the public, but the Union of Concerned Scientists' Government Secrecy Project does.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [30]
Chemicals [31]
Economy & Business [32]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Government [15]
Laws & Regulations [12]
Military [33]
Transportation [7]
Water & Oceans [13]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Read the Reports Congress Doesn't Want You To Read [29]
State Judge Orders Disclosure of Maryland Oil Train Data [34]

A Maryland state judge this month ordered a state agency to give news media routing information about oil trains within Maryland — adding momentum to efforts to warn firefighters and communities about dangers they face. Photo: 2013 Lac Megantic, Quebec, disaster, by Elias Schewel/Flickr. [35]

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
People & Population [16]
Transportation [7]
Region:
National (U.S.) [36]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [19]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about State Judge Orders Disclosure of Maryland Oil Train Data [34]
Railroads Still Don't Want Public To Know Oil Train Danger [37]

If you want to know whether an oil train is going by your community, just go down to the railroad tracks and watch for it. But don't ask the railroad or the state. In many cases, they don't think you can be trusted with this secret.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
People & Population [16]
Transportation [7]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Railroads Still Don't Want Public To Know Oil Train Danger [37]
Oil Train Routing Information Still Disclosed, Key to Public Safety [38]

The mandate for disclosure of oil train information set by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) in a May 2014 emergency order still exists. But getting that information will be harder — and a battle that must be fought by reporters and public safety advocates on a state-by-state basis.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [5]
Transportation [7]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Oil Train Routing Information Still Disclosed, Key to Public Safety [38]
New Oil Train Regs Go Backward on Public's Right to Know Risks [39]

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 [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Laws & Regulations [12]
People & Population [16]
Planning & Growth [40]
Transportation [7]
Region:
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [18]
Northwest (OR WA) [21]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about New Oil Train Regs Go Backward on Public's Right to Know Risks [39]

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