Rescuers continue to search for four missing miners in West Virginia. "The company that owns the West Virginia coal mine where at least 25 workers died this week has pressed its employees for higher productivity rates, sometimes at the expense of safety, according to regulators, lawyers who have sued the company and documents."
The good news: government for the first time is centralizing data about contractors at all federal agencies who were terminated, disbarred or suspended from a federal contract or grant. The bad news: taxpayers (and investigative reporters!) are not allowed to see it.
A bill to protect journalists and citizens against "Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation" suits has been introduced in Congress but is unlikely to go far unless more members get behind it.
A proposed bill would give the public better access to information about members' personal financial information, travel and gift reports, funding earmarks, committee work and reports, recorded floor votes, lobbyist registration and disclosure, and political contributions.
As this issue of the
WatchDogwent to press, major environmental agencies had not yet posted their plans online. Find links to look for them here.
"By trading oil for batteries, the struggling U.S. Postal Service could transform its fleet vehicles into overnight moneymakers that deliver much more than the daily mail. The cash-strapped agency has the potential to earn millions by storing and stabilizing some of the nation’s grid energy in mail trucks during off-peak hours."
"Chemicals found in food cans, nail varnish and shampoos could be triggering early puberty in girls, putting them at greater risk of cancer and diabetes, scientists believe."
"Environmental activists this week are stepping up a battle to protect U.S. EPA's ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, staging demonstrations and lobbying lawmakers at their local offices."
"Environmentalists demanded Tuesday that Puerto Rico's government order new tests to determine whether coal ash being used for home and road construction in the U.S. island's south is free of toxic material."
"Many streams and rivers in the United States are getting warmer, with the greatest increases in urbanized areas, according to research to be published in an upcoming edition of the journal Frontiers of the Ecology and the Environment."
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