"Oil Companies Forfeit Arctic Drilling Rights"
"WASHINGTON — Oil companies that locked up more than 1.3 million acres of the Beaufort Sea for drilling in 2007 have since relinquished nearly half that territory."
Source: FuelFix, 07/31/2014
Search results
"EPA: Proliferation of Top-Job Vacancies And No End in Sight"
"U.S. EPA is on the verge of having more vacancies than Senate-confirmed officials in its top jobs."
Source: Greenwire, 07/31/2014
U.S. Advances Plan To Reintroduce Wild Bison Herds Outside Yellowstone
"New herds of genetically pure wild bison may once again roam vast expanses of the American West where the iconic animal has been absent since the end of the 19th century, under a tentative plan federal officials advanced on Wednesday."
Source: Reuters, 07/31/2014
"Religious Conservatives Embrace Pollution Fight"
"WASHINGTON — The Rev. Lennox Yearwood punched his fist in the air as he rhythmically boomed into the microphone: 'This is a moment for great leadership. This is a moment for our country to stand up. This is our moment.'"
Source: NY Times, 07/31/2014
"PG&E Charged With Obstruction Over San Bruno Blast"
"SAN FRANCISCO — Pacific Gas & Electric was charged Tuesday with lying to regulators in connection with a fatal pipeline explosion that killed eight people and leveled a suburban Northern California neighborhood in 2010."
Source: AP, 07/31/2014
"Administration Unveils Actions To Curb Methane Emissions"
"Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz announced new actions Tuesday aimed at curbing methane emissions form the nation's natural gas systems."
Source: The Hill, 07/31/2014
"Report: Feds Failed To Inspect Chemical Plants With High Terror Risk"
"Government officials have failed to inspect nearly all of the chemical plants considered to be at high risk for terrorist attacks, according to congressional investigators."
Source: The Hill, 07/31/2014
Company Subpoenas Journalists in "Pink Slime" Suit
Four journalists and a food writer have had their notes subpoenaed in a company's $1.2-billion defamation lawsuit against ABC News for calling its product, a common hamburger additive, "pink slime."
Fresh Secret Reports from the Congressional Research Service
Here are some recent explainers of interest to environmental journalists from the CRS, which Congress does not allow to be released to the taxpaying public who paid for them. The WatchDog thanks those who leaked them and the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy for publishing them.
Support Mounts for FOIA Upgrade Bill in Senate
Pressure to bring a bipartisan power-boost bill for the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to the Senate floor mounted June 26, 2014, when a coalition of some 50 groups urged action. The bill would narrow a broad exemption that has in some cases shielded from disclosure almost anything not published in official and final form.
