How Government Works
Feb 8, 2016
Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story
As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...
read in fullFeb 4, 2016
Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans
Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...
read in fullJan 25, 2016
U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014
The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...
read in fullJan 22, 2016
Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.
UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reviewing the Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) rule, a policy mandating that public water systems provide annual reports to consumers on the quality of local drinking water. The resulting reports have been criticized for being overly technical, complex, and difficult for the general public to understand or act upon.
An interagency project underway could revolutionize implementation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and significantly improve transparency and efficiency. The project to develop a government-wide portal for FOIA requests, a goal long supported by the open government community, could deliver as soon as this fall.
In December, the 
The fiscal year 2012 spending package signed by President Obama on Dec. 23 included some good news for government transparency and right to know. Many of the worst provisions of 
Living in the Shadow of Danger: Poverty, Race, and Unequal Chemical Facility Hazards
People of color and people living in poverty, especially poor children of color, are significantly more likely...
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A Tale of Two Retirements: One for CEOs and One for the Rest of Us
The 100 largest CEO retirement funds are worth a combined $4.9 billion, equal to the entire retirement account savings of 41 percent of American fam...
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Gasping for Support: Implementation of Tougher Air Quality Standards Will Require New Funds for State Agencies
New scientific research shows that the current levels of...
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