Government

House and Senate conferees have dropped from the 2007 Farm Bill language that would keep secret the names and addresses of feedlot operators. Faced with recent defeats in both Congress and the courts, the USDA and meat industry, both of whom seem determined to keep such information secret, may be shifting their strategy to trying to accomplish the same result by using Privacy Act regulations.

Scientists advising the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on air pollution issues are criticizing EPA higher-ups for ignoring their scientific counsel. Specifically, they are accusing the Bush Administration of excising science from the process the agency uses to determine how clean the air we breathe should be. The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) challenges EPA administrator Stephen L. Johnson.

Another resource for tracking the influence of money on US politics was announced May 16, 2007.

Often, the workings of the federal legislature appear to be "hiding in plain sight," obscured by arcane, cumbersome language and information systems.

Mexico released a report condemning the border fence along the U.S. border as environmentally destructive.

The public comment period for a long-delayed EIS draft designating energy corridors in 11 Western states is open.

Post-Kyoto climate change negotiations began in earnest in Bali, Indonesia, to prepare for the next iteration of world consensus on the topic.

NASA to hold media briefing Jan. 24 for planned Earth Science program activities.

"When an environmental group, Alaskans for Clean Water, asked for copies of state records about an unsuccessful ballot proposal to limit mining pollution, officials initially said they would turn over the documents — for $50,000," the Associated Press reported October 20, 2008.

Those U.S. representatives and senators really know how to party. Especially the ones running for re-election or under indictment. Now journalists who want to follow the money have a new "Access Washington" snooper-tool to use in their investigative projects.