Publication Items

State Department Hunkers in Secrecy Bunker over Keystone XL [1]

Is the State Department review of whether to permit the Keystone XL pipeline transparent? Not at all. State spokesperson Jen Psaki stiff-armed the Associated Press' Matt Lee February 3, 2015, when he asked whether all eight agencies invited to comment had done so.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [3]
Environmental Politics [4]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about State Department Hunkers in Secrecy Bunker over Keystone XL [1]
Journalism Groups Oppose Photo Fees and Permits in Va. Local Parks [6]

A coalition of journalism and photography groups, including SEJ, objected to requirements for permits and fees for photography in the public parks of Fairfax County, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, DC. In a February 4, 2015, letter to the Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA), the 14 groups asked the agency to revise its rules to protect photojournalists' First Amendment rights.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [8]
Region:
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [9]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Journalism Groups Oppose Photo Fees and Permits in Va. Local Parks [6]
Latest EPA Release of Toxics Data Offers Leads to Environmental Stories [10]

The U.S. EPA has unveiled analysis of its most recent Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data (for 2013). The TRI provides a useful starting point for finding not only local and regional hotspots, but also significant trends.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [11]
Pollution [12]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Latest EPA Release of Toxics Data Offers Leads to Environmental Stories [10]
Canadian Public Not Allowed To Know Kinder Morgan Pipeline Emergency Plan [13]

The expansion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline in Canada by the multibillion-dollar Houston firm Kinder Morgan is, to say the least, controversial. So it did not help instill public confidence when Canada's National Energy Board on Jan 16, 2015, ruled that Kinder Morgan did not have to make public its emergency response plans for spills and fires.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [14]
Energy & Fuel [3]
Region:
Canada [15]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Canadian Public Not Allowed To Know Kinder Morgan Pipeline Emergency Plan [13]
With Environmental Rules at Stake, Dark Money Set To Flood 2016 U.S. Elections [16]

Are megabucks from fossil fuels and other big industries corrupting the election of federal government officials? The U.S. public has little chance of knowing under current rules that are bringing "dark money" to ascendancy in American politics.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [14]
Environmental Politics [4]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about With Environmental Rules at Stake, Dark Money Set To Flood 2016 U.S. Elections [16]
Local Authority Slaps Permits, Fees on Photography in Parks [17]

Professional photojournalists may again be facing unconstitutional requirements for permits to work in public parks — this time at the county level in a well-heeled District of Columbia suburb. But Virginia's Fairfax County Park Authority is encountering pushback as they conduct an annual review of their fee policies at various park units.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [7]
Natural Resources [18]
Policy [19]
Region:
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [9]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Local Authority Slaps Permits, Fees on Photography in Parks [17]
More Secret Reports from Congressional Research Service [20]

Nobody has ever explained why Congress refuses to release the tax-funded explainers produced by the Congressional Research Service. They are a gold standard for journalists needing quick background. Here are some recent CRS reports relevant to environmental journalists, helpfully released by the Federation of American Scientists.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [21]
Disasters [22]
Energy & Fuel [3]
Government [23]
Health [24]
Natural Resources [18]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [25]
Water & Oceans [26]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about More Secret Reports from Congressional Research Service [20]
Waiting for Ansel Adams: Will 114th Congress Legalize Park Photography? [27]

You may have read in recent WatchDogs about controversial federal laws and rules that could restrict photojournalism in federal parks, forests, and rangelands. Now comes the "Ansel Adams bill" that would make it legal to do an activity that is Constitutionally protected. Only someone has to introduce the bill. Photo: Ansel Adams, by J. Malcolm Greany. [28]

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [8]
Natural Resources [18]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Waiting for Ansel Adams: Will 114th Congress Legalize Park Photography? [27]
Groups Sue EPA for Data on Toxic Fracking Chemicals [29]

The industry got Congress in 2005 to block the public from knowing about these chemicals, which can end up in people's drinking water. But the enviro groups, led by the Environmental Integrity Project, want to use a different law to help unlock the data.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [11]
Energy & Fuel [3]
Laws & Regulations [8]
Pollution [12]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Groups Sue EPA for Data on Toxic Fracking Chemicals [29]
Arrest of Four Near Hog Farm Tests Utah's "Ag Gag" Law [30]

One way to deal with bad press is to make it illegal. Exposés of inhumane conditions at feedlots and slaughterhouses are being made illegal by state legislatures that pass "ag gag" laws. Now a case in Utah is challenging whether industrial agriculture's claims of secrecy trump the eating public's right to know. Image: Sows in 7'x2' Smithfield Foods gestation crates. By Humane Society of the US [CC], 2010. [31]

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [14]
Agriculture [32]
Consumer [33]
Health [24]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [8]
Pollution [12]
Region:
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [34]
Northwest (OR WA) [35]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Arrest of Four Near Hog Farm Tests Utah's "Ag Gag" Law [30]

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