Since the 2008 Farm Bill capped the program for re-establishing native grasses on lands once swept bare by erosion like the Dust Bowl, some 3 million acres have been taken out of "conservation reserve."
"The Obama administration's pick for chief agricultural trade negotiator defended himself on Wednesday against charges from environmental groups and others who said he would favor big agribusiness over small farms and organic farmers if confirmed."
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Inspector General has decided to review the appropriateness of the EPA's program to promote 'beneficial uses' of coal combustion waste with the industries it regulates."
"It's official: climate legislation has zero chance of passing before the big summit in Copenhagen this December." That seems to be the inevitable consequence of an announcement by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
The Office of Government Information Services, created by Congress in 2008 to serve as an overseer of federal FOIA activities and help mediate disputes between information requesters and federal agencies, offers a resource page with useful government and NGO links.
Prior to November 1, 2009, EPA had 13 different lists for Federal Register notices. The information is still available to reporters and the public via other channels.
The U.S. Department of Energy scrambles to delay a report by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board about a significant threat of radiation release from Los Alamos National Laboratory, a citizen watchdog group discovered.
The Project on Government Oversight used FOIA to get reports and documents from an NRC Inspector General's investigation of Jeffrey Merrifield.
The Association of Health Care Journalists and other journalism groups have co-signed a letter to the Food and Drug Administration's Transparency Task Force, calling for FDA to "end these harmful practices and restore the free flow of information."
Federal legislation to protect reporters from having to reveal confidential sources may be back on track. A markup in the Senate Judiciary Committee, possibly November 5, 2009, could tell.
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