Publication Items

Top Weather Service Official Fired for Talking to Press [1]

According to the Washington Post, the National Weather Service is firing William Proenza, who once headed the National Hurricane Center, for revealing to the Post that looming budget cuts would harm forecasting effectiveness (something that can affect public safety and the profits of business).

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Policy [3]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Environmental Politics [5]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Top Weather Service Official Fired for Talking to Press [1]
Open-Access Science Publishing: Good for Journalists, and Good for Public [7]

The suicide earlier this month of open-access activist Aaron Swartz brings again to the fore the ongoing difficulty journalists have accessing published scientific studies that bear on key current and future policy issues. Photo of Swartz, credit Flickr/peretzp.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Science [8]
Policy [3]
Government [9]
Activism [10]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Open-Access Science Publishing: Good for Journalists, and Good for Public [7]
"Global Climate Change: A Primer" [11]

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [12]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [13]
Journalism & Media [14]
Policy [3]
Science [8]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about "Global Climate Change: A Primer" [11]
PEER Sues FDA for Documents on Livestock Antibiotics [15]

Under FOIA, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility requested FDA documents justifying its use of categorical exclusions to avoid assessing the environmental impact of not regulating livestock antibiotics. After FDA failed to provide any, PEER filed a lawsuit in federal district court.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Policy [3]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Chemicals [16]
Agriculture [17]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about PEER Sues FDA for Documents on Livestock Antibiotics [15]
State Fracking Disclosure Rules Don't Protect Public: Report [18]

A new OMB Watch report calls full advance disclosure of fracking fluid ingredients "the necessary first step" to protecting people's drinking water and concluded "no state has yet established all of the elements of a chemical disclosure policy strong enough to ensure the quality of the water and the health of communities near gas wells."

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [19]
Policy [3]
People & Population [20]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Energy & Fuel [21]
Chemicals [16]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about State Fracking Disclosure Rules Don't Protect Public: Report [18]
TOOLBOX: EWG Ag Subsidy Database a Tall Silo of Environmental Stories [22]

One starting point to covering agriculture — and the health implications of land and water use — is to follow the money using Environmental Working Group's major database tool. Any reporter covering the ag-environment link should know about it.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [19]
Pollution [23]
Policy [3]
Health [24]
Environmental Politics [5]
Environmental Health [25]
Agriculture [17]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about TOOLBOX: EWG Ag Subsidy Database a Tall Silo of Environmental Stories [22]
Senate Stifles Amendment on Crop Insurance Disclosure [26]

That left journalists and the taxpayers — for now — at least partly in the dark about where tax dollars subsidizing agriculture are really going. But disclosure advocates think they may get another opportunity when the House takes up its own version of the Farm Bill.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Policy [3]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Environmental Politics [5]
Economy & Business [27]
Agriculture [17]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Senate Stifles Amendment on Crop Insurance Disclosure [26]
Dark Hand of OMB Lifted from FOIA Recommendations — Or So They Say [28]

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 [3]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Government [9]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Dark Hand of OMB Lifted from FOIA Recommendations — Or So They Say [28]
Cool Data Tools: EPA Releases NEPAssist Mapper [29]

For reporters wanting to pry open the worm-cans of local environmental stories, EPA's new GIS tool lets you map Environmental Impact Statements project information against a rich backdrop: layer after layer of geographic, demographic, environmental, and economic context. And, it can be used in conjunction with EJView, EPA's environmental justice online mapping tool.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Technology [30]
Policy [3]
People & Population [20]
Government [9]
Economy & Business [27]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Cool Data Tools: EPA Releases NEPAssist Mapper [29]
Global Talks Offer Chance To Improve US Extractive Industries Transparency [31]

An initiative involving some 35 nations aims to solve many complex revenue-reporting problems, including improving the flow of information across national borders. But solutions can't even begin until individual nations get a grip on accurate data about extractive industries within their own borders. The results could illuminate key environmental policy issues.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Policy [3]
Natural Resources [32]
Forests [33]
Energy & Fuel [21]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Global Talks Offer Chance To Improve US Extractive Industries Transparency [31]

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