French State Nuclear Firm EDF Fined €1.5M for Spying on Greenpeace
"France's state energy firm EDF has been fined €1.5m by a Paris court for spying on Greenpeace."
Source: Guardian, 11/11/2011
Government
'EPA: Agency Lags By Years on Dozens of IG Recommendations'
'U.S. EPA has still not implemented recommendations from the agency's inspector general that stretch as far back as 2001, according to a recent IG review.'
Source: Greenwire, 11/08/2011
Other Information Access News in Brief
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.
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Interior To Combine Surface Mining, Land Management Agencies: Salazar
"The US Department of Interior plans to integrate the responsibilities of two sub-agencies with diverse portfolios overseeing surface mining, federal land management, oil and natural gas royalty collection and hard-rock mining, among other areas, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Wednesday."
Source: Platts, 10/27/2011
Brit Cops Use Sex to Secretly Subvert Enviro Groups: Guardian
"A former police spymaster who spent years living deep undercover in the protest movement has confessed he tricked an innocent woman into having a long-term relationship with him, as part of an elaborate attempt to lend 'credibility' to his alter ego."
Source: Guardian, 10/24/2011
NOAA Releases First Fishing Bycatch Report
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.
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Watchdog Alert: Tracking Energy Loan Guarantees
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.
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"Why This Prominent UK Enviro Caused a National Security Freakout"
"Why did the FBI detain and question a 62-year-old British environmentalist upon his arrival at New York City's John F. Kennedy Airport? The bureau won't say, and the activist, who was subsequently shipped back to London, never got a clear explanation." The answer, it seems, involves superglue.
Source: Mother Jones, 10/07/2011
DHS: Taking the "Public" Out of Public Affairs
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.
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