Publication Items

BLM Invites More Public Comment for New Oil Shale PEIS [1]

Public meetings in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming from April 26 to May 5, 2011 will likely be newsy events, with advocates and critics representing industry, environmentalists, local governments, and other interested groups and individuals voicing their opinions.
SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [3]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Natural Resources [5]
Region:
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about BLM Invites More Public Comment for New Oil Shale PEIS [1]
Multiple Sources Reveal Fracking Chemicals [8]

New tools provide limited information on substances used in specific wells during the oil and natural gas extraction process called hydraulic fracturing. From 2005-2009, 780 million gallons of 750 substances were injected underground — a starting point for your coverage of this angle.
SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [4]
Economy & Business [9]
Chemicals [10]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Multiple Sources Reveal Fracking Chemicals [8]
So Little Time, So Stop Procrastinating! [11]

Naomi Lubick writes about the common plight of procrastination and offers helpful tips to better manage your time and energy. Don't put it off — read it now!

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [12]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about So Little Time, So Stop Procrastinating! [11]
Judge Orders National Park Service To Release FOIA'd Documents [13]

A former employee of a restaurant in Acadia National Park won a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit over records the National Park Service had refused to release, about a 2008 incident when he was among those detained by Park Service police.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [14]
Topics on the Beat:
Natural Resources [5]
Government [15]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Judge Orders National Park Service To Release FOIA'd Documents [13]
Toolbox: Data Science Toolkit [16]

If you spend a lot of time researching things on the Internet as part of your reporting, the online Data Science Toolkit, which is especially handy with geographic data, and a book by Pete Warden could make parts of your job a lot easier.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [14]
Topics on the Beat:
Technology [17]
Science [18]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Toolbox: Data Science Toolkit [16]
BP Blowout Anniversary: "What's Under Elmer's Island?" [19]

Denial of news media access to Gulf beaches has been an issue since the Deepwater Horizon disaster. There's tussling over access to (and interpretation of) scientific information on possible impacts of the spill on the Gulf ecosystem. And The Guardian obtained >30,000 pages of BP in-house memos FOIA'd by Greenpeace, which suggest BP was working hard to influence the results of the research it was paying for.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [14]
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [20]
Science [18]
Pollution [21]
Disasters [22]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [23]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about BP Blowout Anniversary: "What's Under Elmer's Island?" [19]
Wisconsin: Another Case Pits Freedom of Information Against Academic Freedom [24]

A top Wisconsin Republican party official on March 17 filed a request under the state's freedom-of-information law for emails written by University of Wisconsin's William J. Cronon, after the professor blogged about the American Legislative Exchange Council, an anti-regulatory group that lobbies state legislatures.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [14]
Region:
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [25]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Wisconsin: Another Case Pits Freedom of Information Against Academic Freedom [24]
Fed Report Identifies 70 Hydro Expansion Candidates [26]

The Dept. of Interior's Bureau of Reclamation released a report March 31, 2011, that highlights 70 existing dam, diversion structure, and other waterway operations in 14 Western states that could be expanded to generate more electricity.
SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [4]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Fed Report Identifies 70 Hydro Expansion Candidates [26]
Three Public Fracking Forums on Tap [27]

Topics to be discussed April 20-25, 2011, in Bismarck, Denver, and Little Rock include "best management practices, disclosure of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing fluids, well construction and integrity, production wastewater management, and other techniques for protecting drinking water resources."
SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [4]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Three Public Fracking Forums on Tap [27]
Fed Report: Most Oil and Gas Leases Unused [28]

According to a Dept. of Interior report requested by Obama and released March 29, 2011, 70% of existing federal oil and gas offshore lease acres and 57% of all federal onshore leased acres are inactive, with no production, exploration or development.
SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Natural Resources [5]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Fed Report: Most Oil and Gas Leases Unused [28]

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