The Congressional Research Service, a fine institution funded with taxpayer money, has had a longstanding policy of not releasing its research to the public. Fortunately, some members of Congress leak the reports to groups like the Federation of American Scientists, which publishes them.

Here, courtesy of FAS, are some recent backgrounders that may be useful to reporters on the environment/energy beat.

• "Chemical Facility Security: Issues and Options for the 112th Congress," [2] CRS, January 13, 2012, by Dana Shea.
• "Nuclear Power Plant Design and Seismic Safety Considerations," [3] CRS, January 12, 2012, by Anthony Andrews and Peter Folger.
• "Proposed Keystone XL Pipeline: Legal Issues," [4] CRS, January 23, 2012, by Adam Vann, Kristina Alexander, Vanessa K. Burrows, and Kenneth R. Thomas.