Publication Items

Congress Could Still Pass FOIA Reform

There is still a chance that Congress could pass legislation strengthening the Freedom of Information Act before it adjourns. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a fix-FOIA bill (S 2520) November 20, 2014, setting up the possibility of full-Senate floor action. The Society of Environmental Journalists has urged Congress and the President to support such legislation.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet
Topics on the Beat:
Government
Journalism & Media
Visibility:
Public
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Free Speech for Science Advisors? EPA Loosens the Leash

EPA has issued a "clarification" of its SAB scientist-muzzling policy, which acknowledges that SAB members are free to talk to reporters — mostly — as long as they are speaking for themselves. Still, the Society of Professional Journalists wrote EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy December 1 declaring their dissatisfaction with the clarification.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics
Policy
Science
Visibility:
Public
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J-Groups Call on Forest Service To Drop Permit Requirements

A coalition of journalism groups, including SEJ, is calling on the U.S. Forest Service to make clear in its directives that journalists, documentarians, and media photographers do not need permits to take pictures in National Forest Wilderness or other public lands.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics
Forests
Journalism & Media
Policy
Visibility:
Public
- Read more about J-Groups Call on Forest Service To Drop Permit Requirements
Between the Lines: Rain of Steel — Covering the Environment, Health Fallout of Unexploded Ordnance

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters
Environmental Health
Health
Military
People & Population
Region:
Asia
Visibility:
Public
- Read more about Between the Lines: Rain of Steel — Covering the Environment, Health Fallout of Unexploded Ordnance
Got Methyl Mercaptan? Group Maps Chemical Risks Data

It was news when a leak of methyl mercaptan killed four workers at a DuPont chemical plant in La Porte, Texas, November 15, 2014. Maps and data are available to any environmental journalists who want to know about similar hazards near them, thanks to Amanda Frank at the Center for Effective Government.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals
Disasters
People & Population
Visibility:
Public
- Read more about Got Methyl Mercaptan? Group Maps Chemical Risks Data
FOIA Bill Could Still Pass Lame Duck

There is still hope (and perhaps time) for this Congress to pass a bill strengthening the Freedom of Information Act. The Senate Judiciary seems likely to mark up a revised FOIA reform bill Thursday, November 20, 2014. After that will come a push to bring it to the Senate floor and eventually reconcile with a FOIA bill already passed by the House.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet
Topics on the Beat:
Government
Laws & Regulations
Visibility:
Public
- Read more about FOIA Bill Could Still Pass Lame Duck
House Passes Bill That Helps Silence Science on EPA Advisory Board

On a 229-191 party-line vote, the GOP-controlled House passed a bill reining in EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB) — authorizing conflicts of interest for its members and gagging them in communications about subjects they are expert on. Science integrity and environmental groups had opposed the bill, which the House passed on November 18, 2014.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet
Topics on the Beat:
Economy & Business
Environmental Politics
Laws & Regulations
Science
Visibility:
Public
- Read more about House Passes Bill That Helps Silence Science on EPA Advisory Board
Pacificorp Claims the Birds Its Turbines Kill Are Trade Secret

Power company Pacificorp has gone to court to prevent the Interior Department from disclosing how many birds are found dead at its wind-energy turbine sites. AP reporter Dina Cappiello has been writing an investigative series on the birds, including eagles, killed at wind farms in the U.S. The series found that federal regulators have not prosecuted or penalized wind-energy companies when their turbines kill birds and — the government has helped keep the scope of bird mortality secret.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity
Energy & Fuel
Wildlife
Region:
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY)
Northwest (OR WA)
Visibility:
Public
- Read more about Pacificorp Claims the Birds Its Turbines Kill Are Trade Secret
Did Halliburton Buy Baker Hughes Silence on Fracking Chemicals?

It seemed like good news when Baker Hughes, one of the world's largest oilfield services companies, announced in Oct 2014 that it would start disclosing all the chemicals it used in its fracking operation. Now Halliburton, an even larger oilfield services company, is buying Baker Hughes. In a $34.6 billion merger. Or is it a hostile takeover?

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet
Topics on the Beat:
Economy & Business
Energy & Fuel
Environmental Politics
Pollution
Water & Oceans
Visibility:
Public
- Read more about Did Halliburton Buy Baker Hughes Silence on Fracking Chemicals?
Weather Service Offers Better Ways To Track Storm Intensity

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters
Science
Technology
Visibility:
Public
- Read more about Weather Service Offers Better Ways To Track Storm Intensity