Publication Items

PEER Sues FDA for Documents on Livestock Antibiotics [1]

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 [5]
Agriculture [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about PEER Sues FDA for Documents on Livestock Antibiotics [1]
State Fracking Disclosure Rules Don't Protect Public: Report [8]

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 [9]
Policy [3]
People & Population [10]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Chemicals [5]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about State Fracking Disclosure Rules Don't Protect Public: Report [8]
EnergyWire Spotlights Limits of Fracking Disclosure in Ohio [12]

About two dozen chemicals in the 8.3 million gallons of fluid used to fracture a gas-bearing Marcellus Shale formation near Canton, Ohio were disclosed on a public website — but the identities of another four chemical ingredients were withheld on the claim that they were trade secrets. EnergyWire's Peter Behr takes a look at the controversy.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Pollution [13]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Chemicals [5]
Region:
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [14]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about EnergyWire Spotlights Limits of Fracking Disclosure in Ohio [12]
Group Sues Interior for Failure to Disclose Correspondence with Wind Industry [15]

The American Bird Conservancy has gone to court after the Interior Department stonewalled its Freedom-of-Information-Act requests for correspondence between feds and the wind industry on how potential wind projects in 10 states might affect birds and bats.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Wildlife [16]
Environmental Politics [17]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Biodiversity [18]
Region:
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [19]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [20]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [21]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [22]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [14]
California [23]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Group Sues Interior for Failure to Disclose Correspondence with Wind Industry [15]
TOOLBOX: EWG Ag Subsidy Database a Tall Silo of Environmental Stories [24]

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 [9]
Pollution [13]
Policy [3]
Health [25]
Environmental Politics [17]
Environmental Health [26]
Agriculture [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about TOOLBOX: EWG Ag Subsidy Database a Tall Silo of Environmental Stories [24]
Senate Stifles Amendment on Crop Insurance Disclosure [27]

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 [17]
Economy & Business [28]
Agriculture [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Senate Stifles Amendment on Crop Insurance Disclosure [27]
COOL TOOL: Poligraft Helps Journos Sniff out Slanted Sources [29]

The system was developed by the Sunlight Foundation, the National Institute on Money in State Politics, and the Center for Responsive Politics. Just paste in some text or the Web address of an online article, and within seconds Poligraft supplies much of the missing context.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Technology [30]
Environmental Politics [17]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about COOL TOOL: Poligraft Helps Journos Sniff out Slanted Sources [29]
Directory of Open Access Journals a Boon for Environmental Reporters [31]

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 [32]
People & Population [10]
Journalism & Media [33]
Government [34]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Directory of Open Access Journals a Boon for Environmental Reporters [31]
E-Mail Disclosure Could Play Role in BP Gulf Spill Case [35]

A federal judge has denied BP's bid to see 21 e-mails and other documents sent between the White House and other federal agencies. More chilling, perhaps, was BP's effort to get e-mails sent by two private-sector scientists in an apparent effort to discredit their work.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [11]
Disasters [36]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [20]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about E-Mail Disclosure Could Play Role in BP Gulf Spill Case [35]
International Energy Agency Calls for Fracking Transparency [37]

A new report from the IEA includes guidelines emphasizing transparency and the monitoring of environmental and social impacts. That includes full disclosure of fracking fluid ingredients and testing of baseline water and air conditions before drilling begins.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [9]
Environmental Politics [17]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Chemicals [5]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about International Energy Agency Calls for Fracking Transparency [37]

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