Government

Climate scientist Michael Mann wins bid to join emails lawsuit; BP and other Gulf oil spill CEOs won't testify before House committee; Republican House freshmen disappointed by Supercommittee's secrecy; Obama admin to issue disclosure rules for fracking on federal lands; WRI/Transparency Int'l panel on climate policy corruption, Nov. 3, 2011, in DC; proposed FOIA rule would let gov't deny existence of records; and bill to improve pipeline safety and increase access to info passes Senate.

Current fishing methods are rather destructive, with 17% of the fish caught commercially being unintended bycatch, according to NOAA's first national assessment of bycatch. That damages the environment, and costs those who fish time and money.

The topic of federal loan guarantees for energy projects has become prime media territory with the bankruptcy of the solar company Solyndra after it received one of these loans. As of September 30, 2011, DoE has issued about $40 billion for solar, wind, geothermal, biofuels, nuclear, energy efficiency, energy storage, battery storage, or transmission projects.

A frustrated Federal Times reporter filed a Freedom-of-Information-Act request for the names and phone numbers of all DHS press officers. When he finally got the 58-page list of names, the agency had blacked out all the work phones, cell phones, and e-mail addresses.

A historian at the National Security Archives made a Freedom of Information Act request in March 2010 to the CIA’s Center on Climate Change and National Security (CCCNS). On Sept. 16, 2011, the CIA finally responded, telling Richelson that all the material he requested was classified and thus exempt from FOIA.