Public

Suppose there were a catastrophe and you needed information fast. Would you call FEMA?

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) overruled a ban by the state's Department of Agriculture on the labelling of milk as "hormone free."

Two House subcommittees are investigating charges that federal agencies censored scientific information about the health risks posed by FEMA trailers to people living in them.

Reporters starved for environmental information and desperate for local story ideas, rejoice. Well, at least don't look so glum. EPA has thrown you a bone or two with its newly redesigned web site.

The Smithsonian Institution, a federal agency with many environment-related research and public education activities, opposes a Congressional move that would subject it to the same open-records law that applies to other executive branch agencies.

The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service has completed two reports useful to journalists.

The fifth annual report card produced by OpenTheGovernment.org offers hard numbers from a range of indicators that Bush Administration secrecy continues.

The Environmental Protection Agency looks determined to keep the public from knowing whether a pesticide on which it has waived safety rules may be a factor in the worldwide bee die-off known as "colony collapse disorder."

A Congressional Research Service report on terrorism and security issues facing sewage treatment and drinking water plants, dams and reservoirs, and other water infrastructure is full of ideas that reporters could turn into local stories — if only they were allowed to see it.

This database is useful for environmental and energy reporters looking for mischief perpetrated by government officials and the industries who influence them with money.