The Energy Department in December 2008 published an 11th-hour proposed amendment to the Bush administration's secrecy rules that shroud the policies that brought Americans Enron, California blackouts, and $4 gasoline.

The Labor Department's Mine Safety and Health Administration finally released its Freedom of Information Act annual reports — after fighting veteran FOIA requester Mike Ravnitsky for some 18 months.

A series of drinking-water contamination incidents have raised doubts about EPA's safety claims regarding hydraulic fracturing in domestic gas wells. And it's hard for people to get to the bottom of those claims when the identity of the chemicals injected during the process is protected as a "trade secret."

The Freedom of Information Act is still one of the most powerful tools in a reporter's toolbelt. Here's our short list of useful FOIA helpers.

Twelve states sued EPA Oct. 28, 2007, over the agency's cutbacks in data available to communities about the toxic threats presented to them by nearby industrial plants.

SEJ President Timothy B. Wheeler testified before a full committee oversight hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee, that a proposed rule governing photography in National Park System units and Wildlife Refuges could restrict media access to these public lands and limit their coverage of natural resource issues.

Environmental policy, legislation, and regulation are likely to be different under the Obama administration than the Bush administration. It's difficult to know yet what the priorities will be, or what shifts will occur. This is the first half of potential topics for journalists to keep an eye on.

Environmental policy, legislation, and regulation are likely to be different under the Obama administration than the Bush administration. It's difficult to know yet what the priorities will be, or what shifts will occur. This is the second half of potential topics for journalists to keep an eye on.

The Obama administration is taking shape with many key environmental appointments to the cabinet and elsewhere. This is the first half of our guide to the new players, their backgrounds and agendas.

The Obama administration is taking shape with many key environmental appointments to the cabinet and elsewhere. This is the second half of our guide to the new players, their backgrounds and agendas.