Open, Accountable Government

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...

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Feb 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...

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Jan 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...

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Jan 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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more news

Sunshine Illuminates More Bush-era OLC Memos

On March 2, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released a set of previously classified memoranda from the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC). OLC produced the documents for senior members of the George W. Bush administration. The release is yet another step in the Obama administration's implementation of its commitment to transparency.

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Industry Secrecy Still Hindering Protection from Toxics

The excessive use of confidential business information claims is a major factor preventing the government from safe, effective management of thousands of industrial chemicals, according to several experts who recently presented their views to a congressional panel. The witnesses asserted that when information about potentially dangerous chemicals is labeled as trade secrets, government agencies and the public are denied the opportunity to evaluate the risks of chemicals and take action to protect public health and the environment.

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Cybersecurity Czar Calls it Quits

Mar 6, 2009 by Roger Strother*

The “Czar” of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) secretive National Cybersecurity Center (NCSC), Rod Beckstrom, submitted his resignation to Secretary Janet Napolitano on March 5. Beckstrom’s letter illuminates several key problems in the program that have resulted from bureaucratic infighting.

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IRS Ends Private Debt Collection Program

Mar 6, 2009 by Craig Jennings

An IRS press release brings us some good news this morning.

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Hundreds Call on EPA to Restore Public Access to Toxic Pollution Information

WASHINGTON, March 3, 2009—Hundreds of national, state, and local groups and individual signers today called on EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to reverse a 2006 Environmental Protection Agency rule that limits public access to information about toxic chemical releases. The rule, finalized in December 2006, allows industries to withhold information on the quantities and locations of toxic chemical releases previously reported to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI).

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EPA Looking to Settle on TRI

Feb 27, 2009 by Brian Turnbaugh*

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reportedly negotiating a settlement in the multi-state lawsuit seeking to overturn the current reporting rules to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), according to Inside EPA (subscription required). The agency has requested and received a 60-day extension on the deadline for its response to the states' motion to throw out the current TRI reporting rules.

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OLC Nominee Grilled on Torture

Feb 27, 2009 by Chris George*

On Wednesday the Senate Judiciary Committee held its confirmation hearing for Dawn Johnsen, nominee to head the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) at the Department of Justice. The Senators had some pointed questions for Johnsen about the secrecy of OLC opinions.

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Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act, Fourth Times A Charm?

Feb 27, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

For the fourth time Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) introduced a bill to require senators to file their campaign finance reports electronically, rather than in paper. S.482 currently has 25 bipartisan co-sponsors. Unlike presidential and House candidates, the Senate does not require the electronic filing of these reports. "Under the current paper filing system, the FEC's detailed coding, which allows for more sophisticated searches and analysis, is completed over a week later for Senate reports than for House reports.

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Looking for Revenue?

Feb 25, 2009 by Craig Jennings

Upon the request of House Speaker Nancy Peolosi and House Budget Committee Chair John Spratt, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has analyzed the budgetary impact of three alternative policy scenarios.

They find that letting the Bush tax cuts for the rich expire would trim, over 10 years, $1.4 trillion from the federal budget deficit.

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House Spending Bill Would Restore Toxics Reporting

Feb 25, 2009 by Brian Turnbaugh*

The recently introduced House omnibus appropriations bill includes a provision to reverse the Bush-era change that weakened the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), one of the nation's most successful pollution prevention programs. Buried deep within the 1122-page document, sandwiched among the hundreds of earmarks, lies a welcome sight.

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