Project on Government Oversight says federal plans for contractor database omit exactly the information investigative types want most, including past wrongdoing by contractors. POGO's own database still the best tool available.
Politico broke the story of a January 18, 2011, meeting between House and Senate GOP aides and energy industry lobbyists to map out strategy for handcuffing President Obama and EPA on climate regulations.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has started publishing the industry wish-lists on its own — including in some cases full texts of industry letters back to Issa.
The Associated Press reports the House Oversight Committee has asked the Department of Homeland Security for documents about its policy requiring political appointees to review Freedom of Information Act requests.
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility says the Dec. 21 memo implies that existing EPA openness policy meets White House criteria. Meanwhile, the Office of Management and Budget may again be tampering with agency science for political purposes — accused by Arizona congressman Raúl Grijalva (pictured) of censoring FOIA'd documents relating to the mid-summer estimate of Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Some light bulbs require special handling to reduce toxic exposures. EPA's latest guidance for old fluorescent bulbs that contain PCBs and current generation CFLs that contain mercury both provide important fodder for consumer-awareness stories.
President Obama's new executive order requiring executive agencies to test regulations for balance between costs to industry and benefits to Americans drew mixed reactions. Environmentalists called it a cave-in and business lobbyists said it did not go far enough. In fact, it did not much change existing executive orders already on the books to do the same thing. Stakeholders and analysts saw it as a maneuver in a complex game of appearances and a feint that may blunt a GOP plan to do things far more radical.
Georgia "collected more than $30 million in fees from Georgians last year for programs designed to clean up landfills, tire dumps and hazardous sites and to improve 911 services. The governor and state lawmakers put less than $2 million of the fee revenue toward those programs."
Many publications and groups schedule special stories, reports, panels, or events during this week to promote freedom of information and to exercise their First Amendment rights. Find suggestions at the American Society of News Editors' official Sunshine Week website.
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