"A handful of the biggest oil and gas companies and their CEOs poured millions into a super PAC created to boost the election of Senate Republicans as the industry made a successful lobbying effort to repeal the 40-year-old ban on oil exports."
"ST. LOUIS — A Midwest environmental group is questioning the ability of the country's largest coal producer to guarantee it has enough money for future cleanup of its Illinois mines, and it's threatening to sue the state if regulators don't change their approach."
"BELLE GLADE, Fla. — Dozens of farmworkers looked up at the little yellow plane buzzing over the Florida radish field, a mist of pesticide falling from its wings."
"California, Oregon and the federal government are working on a way around congressional barriers to the removal of hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River."
"Researchers in the state of Pernambuco, home to a third of Brazil’s suspected cases of infant microcephaly, said on Wednesday that they have identified some the clearest evidence yet of a direct link between the debilitating birth defect and the Zika virus."
"U.S. lawmakers criticized environmental officials at a hearing on Wednesday for not acting sooner when they saw a report that drinking water in Flint, Michigan was polluted with dangerously high levels of lead."
Not everybody loves freedom of information. Those who do celebrate "Sunshine Week" annually in hopes of educating the public about why they need to know what their governments are up to. This year, Sunshine Week will get extra oomph from the fact that the Freedom of Information Act is turning 50 years old.
Based on a variety of data sources, the Center for Effective Government's new map and database shows that "people of color and poor residents are significantly more likely to live near dangerous chemical facilities than white and non-poor residents" in the U.S.
The database, which covers a list of some 689 toxic chemicals, includes self-reported information about dangerous chemicals handled and released at industrial facilities during 2014, the latest year for which data is available. Companies reported the 2014 totals in mid-2015.
Freelance Investigative Reporters and Editors (FIRE) helps independent journalists by providing two services: a complimentary Editorial Consultancy and a Virtual Newsroom. Applications are open for services and grants of up to $12,500 to assist freelance reporters working on investigative stories. Rolling deadline. Also, on a trial basis through May 15, 2021, FIRE is accepting applications for customized contract-related legal assistance from two veteran media attorneys.
Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/headlines/fossil-fuel-super-pac-gifts-came-congress-ended-oil-export-ban
[2] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fossil-fuel-super-pac-donors_us_56b25c5ae4b04f9b57d82d06
[3] https://www.sej.org/headlines/peabody-coal-clean-protections-questioned-illinois
[4] http://thesouthern.com/news/local/communities/harrisburg/peabody-coal-clean-up-protections-questioned-in-illinois/article_31d5d7de-7fdd-5312-a3c2-62119436d198.html
[5] https://www.sej.org/headlines/review-reveals-problems-protecting-workers-pesticides
[6] http://bigstory.ap.org/article/c3e317315f9c4585bb061c69a6d83039/review-reveals-problems-protecting-workers-pesticides
[7] https://www.sej.org/headlines/klamath-river-dams-moving-toward-removal-despite-congressional-barriers
[8] http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-klamath-river-dams-20160203-story.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=649324
[9] https://www.sej.org/headlines/new-link-between-zika-and-microcephaly-found-brazil
[10] http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/new-link-between-zika-and-microcephaly-is-found-in-brazil/
[11] https://www.sej.org/headlines/us-lawmakers-chastise-officials-all-levels-over-flint-crisis
[12] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-michigan-water-congress-idUSKCN0VC1S0
[13] https://www.sej.org/publications/watchdog-tipsheet/sunshine-week-starts-march-13-foia-turning-fifty
[14] https://www.sej.org/publications/watchdog-tipsheet/group-issues-data-map-showing-poor-minorities-face-more-toxic-risks
[15] https://www.sej.org/publications/watchdog-tipsheet/epa-releases-latest-toxics-release-inventory-%E2%80%94-key-tool-journos
[16] https://www.sej.org/calendar/deadline-freelance-investigative-reporters-editors-services-grants
[17] https://www.sej.org/search_results
[18] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=2983
[19] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=2980
[20] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=2981
[21] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=2982
[22] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=2985
[23] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=2986
[24] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=2987
[25] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=2988
[26] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=5071