Publication Items

Database on Environmental Treaties an Aid for Reporters on Environmental Stories [1]

There are well over a thousand binational or multinational environmental agreements, usually technical and obscure. However, environmental reporters would do well to know about them — to shed light on local stories and to find national or international news. Here's help.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Technology [3]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Government [5]
Environmental Health [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Database on Environmental Treaties an Aid for Reporters on Environmental Stories [1]
House Considers Quashing Report on Carcinogens [8]

For years, scientists at the National Toxicology Program have published the "Report on Carcinogens," which lists chemicals known to (or believed to) cause cancer. The "12th Report on Carcinogens" was released on June 10, 2011 — will there be a 13th? Some House Republicans want to stop updating and publication of the report.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Health [9]
Government [5]
Chemicals [10]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about House Considers Quashing Report on Carcinogens [8]
Washington Post Faults Obama on Living Up To Openness Pledge [11]

An analysis of records and statistics by Post reporter James Ball concluded: "Three years later, new evidence suggests that administration officials have struggled to overturn the long-standing culture of secrecy in Washington. Some of these high-profile transparency measures have stalled, and by some measures the government is keeping more secrets than before."

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [12]
Government [5]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Washington Post Faults Obama on Living Up To Openness Pledge [11]
PEER Charges Secrecy in Denials of National Park System Status to 3 Trails [13]

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility is charging the National Park Service with duplicity for multiple reasons regarding demotion of the North Country, Ice Age, and New England Trails, which collectively span 6,020 miles.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Natural Resources [14]
Government [5]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about PEER Charges Secrecy in Denials of National Park System Status to 3 Trails [13]
FDA E-Mail Tracking Included Reporters [15]

The Food and Drug Administration secretly captured e-mails of FDA employees suspected of whistleblowing for agency laxity in protecting the public — but ended up also reading correspondence with reporters, lawyers, and Congress.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [12]
Government [5]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about FDA E-Mail Tracking Included Reporters [15]
Got Corruption? Data on State Lawmaker Conflicts Hard To Get [16]

A large and diverse array of businesses have an interest in the environmental and energy laws that state legislatures consider: including coal, oil, plastics, chemicals, mining, forest products, and others. The possible financial stake lawmakers may have in the bills before them is fertile ground for investigation. Here's help in finding story ideas.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Natural Resources [14]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Government [5]
Forests [17]
Energy & Fuel [18]
Chemicals [10]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Got Corruption? Data on State Lawmaker Conflicts Hard To Get [16]
Directory of Open Access Journals a Boon for Environmental Reporters [19]

The rebellion against commercial and subscription-only publishers over public access to articles based on taxpayer-funded research is gaining ground. The Directory — free, searchable and online — already includes some 819742, full-text, scientific or scholarly articles in 7885 journals.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Science [20]
People & Population [21]
Journalism & Media [12]
Government [5]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Directory of Open Access Journals a Boon for Environmental Reporters [19]
Data.gov Keeps on Giving Gifts to Gumshoe Reporters [22]

The federal Data.gov, while not perfect, has grown over three years especially strong in datasets from federal agencies that deal with the environment, energy, natural resources, health, and science. Many of them are downloadable, so that you can crunch them on your own computer. Several are map layers or geo-tagged in some way. See a few randomly chosen examples here.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Wildlife [23]
Water & Oceans [24]
Science [20]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [25]
Natural Resources [14]
Health [9]
Government [5]
Energy & Fuel [18]
Disasters [26]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Data.gov Keeps on Giving Gifts to Gumshoe Reporters [22]
CRS Reports: You Paid for Them — You May As Well Read Them [27]

Here are some recent reports by the Congressional Research Service related to the environment/energy beat. Congress does not release them to the public. We again thank the Federation of American Scientists' Government Secrecy Project for doing so.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Natural Resources [14]
Government [5]
Food [28]
Environmental Politics [29]
Energy & Fuel [18]
Climate Change [30]
Agriculture [31]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about CRS Reports: You Paid for Them — You May As Well Read Them [27]
Dark Hand of OMB Lifted from FOIA Recommendations — Or So They Say [32]

OMB sat on the Office of Government Information Services recommendations for over a year, until a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in March 2012 demanded OMB release the recommendations, which finally happened April 24th. However, no recommendations for legislative change were included. Nobody knows what, if any, legislative recommendations OGIS may have originally proposed.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Policy [33]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Government [5]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Dark Hand of OMB Lifted from FOIA Recommendations — Or So They Say [32]

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