Legislation to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act, a key journalist's tool, died in the final hours of the do-nothing 113th Congress — but hopes remain that the coming 114th Congress could pass the bipartisan package. The bill's Senate passage was delayed by a "hold" placed on it by retiring Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), whose reasons were not clearly explained but were apparently due to banking interests' fears.
In this excerpt from the latest issue of SEJournal (Fall), Bobby Magill's special report offers coverage basics and questions to ask when you are reporting on the spread of shale oil and gas development.
"What could be worse that getting a bag of coal for Christmas? A bag full of toxic chemicals, health groups say."
"More than 16,000 miles of Virginia rivers are polluted, a new report shows. That’s up nearly 3,000 miles from the previous report two years ago."
"While the Obama administration is touting Virginia's pollution trading program as an 'innovative market-based approach' to cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland's trading effort remains stuck in limbo after years of study and debate."
"A trickle of water is being returned to a few parts of the dried-out delta—and those parts are blooming."
"Oil from a wrecked tanker is creating a disaster in the waters of Bangladesh's Sundarbans, the largest contiguous tidal mangrove forest in the world and a haven for a spectacular array of species, including the rare Irrawaddy and Gangetic dolphins and the highly endangered Bengal tiger."
"Two new studies are offering new warnings about the Greenland ice sheet and its future contribution to rising sea levels that could wreak havoc on coastal areas."
"The United States is poised to tackle illegal fishing and seafood fraud on a broader scale than ever before, with the release today of a set of recommendations that calls for everything from "boat-to-plate" traceable fish to international enforcement."
"Its magnitude was ambitious and unprecedented: The National Children’s Study promised to follow 100,000 American children from before birth to the age of 21. Researchers sought a better understanding of autism, obesity and cancer by tracking links between children’s environments and their health outcomes. Since 2007, Congress has appropriated about $1.3 billion to fund planning and research; millions went to four research centers in the St. Louis region alone."
