You wouldn't think you would get arrested for trying to cover the 2012 Democratic convention in Charlotte, NC, September 4 or the Republican convention in Tampa, FL, August 27. But such things have happened before, and reporters have available some resources to support their rights.
More than a decade ago, on February 17, 2000, the entire EPA website was taken down for two weeks because of data security concerns raised by the House Energy Committee. There are faint hints that such events may be in the offing again.
The Food and Drug Administration is so far refusing to name a Southwestern Indiana farm that voluntarily recalled its cantaloupes after a Salmonella outbreak last month that killed two people and sickened some 150.
There are well over a thousand binational or multinational environmental agreements, usually technical and obscure. However, environmental reporters would do well to know about them — to shed light on local stories and to find national or international news. Here's help.
For years, scientists at the National Toxicology Program have published the "Report on Carcinogens," which lists chemicals known to (or believed to) cause cancer. The "12th Report on Carcinogens" was released on June 10, 2011 — will there be a 13th? Some House Republicans want to stop updating and publication of the report.
"Walking into Riverview High School to hear a presentation by University of Michigan professor Paul Mohai and two of his colleagues last week, News Hits caught a whiff of the nauseating petrochemical stench spewing from the nearby Marathon oil refinery along I-75."
"FRESNO, Calif. -- Federal regulators who shut down a Central California slaughterhouse after receiving an animal welfare video were investigating whether beef from sick cows reached the human food supply."
"On the fishing-boat piers of New England, nearly everyone knows a fisherman who was lost at sea."
"The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs is often called the 'black hole' of federal rules, a White House office where proposed regulations can enter in one form and exit months later in another."
"The deadly Salmonella outbreak linked to Indiana-grown cantaloupe in 20 states is the latest in a series of foodborne illness crises that underscore the need to implement rules in the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the Pew Health Group told Food Safety News on Tuesday."
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