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

Social Security's Double Security

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND), in commenting on the current federal budget debate, observed that, "the real test for this Congress is whether or not we're going to face up to our long-term challenges." The Chairman is absolutely right in directing the country to examine the long-term impact of its policy makers' budget decisions. Before we can be prepared to deal with our long-term domestic challenges, however, we must correctly identify just what these challenges are.

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Hazard Reduction at Chemical Plants Equals Safer Hometowns

The Safe Hometowns Initiative, a coalition of citizen groups, held press briefings and events in more than 20 states across the country on March 7 to warn that six months after the Sept. 11 attacks, millions of Americans remain at risk from possible terrorist attacks on chemical storage facilities.

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Public Still At Risk of Chemical Plant Attack

The Washington Post reported last week that a previously undisclosed study by the Army surgeon general concludes that as many as 2.4 million people are at risk of being killed or injured in a terrorist attack against a U.S. toxic chemical plant in a densely populated area. This shocking number is twice as high as previous government estimates of possible casualties of a worst-case scenario involving terrorist attacks on chemical plants.

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Data Quality Meetings To Be Held

Data Quality meetings abound in Washington DC this week. The National Academy of Sciences is hosting a public workshop focused on OMB's "Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by Federal Agencies" on March 21 and 22. This workshop is being organized by the Ad Hoc Committee on Data Quality under the auspices of the Science, Technology, and Law Program of The National Academies. The registration deadline is Tuesday, March 19 and there is no registration fee.

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EPA Announces Plans to Restrict Access to Envirofacts

On March 14, 2002 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emailed an announcement to Envirofacts users explaining that it will no longer allow direct access to the Envirofacts databases. In the email to Direct Connect Users, EPA stated that, "As part of our continuing efforts to respond to Homeland Security issues . . . starting April 1, 2002, Direct Connect access will no longer be available to the general public. Direct Connect access to Envirofacts will only be available to U.S. EPA employees, U.S. EPA Contractors, the Military, Federal Government, and State Agency employees."

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House Budget Committee "Balanced" Budget Resolution for FY 2003

The budget resolution that the House Budget Committee marked up and passed by a party line vote (23-18) on March 13, is expected to head to the Floor for debate this week. The budget resolution is not a law, but is a broad outline for spending and tax cuts for FY 2003, which begins on October 1, 2002 and runs through September 31, 2003.

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GAO Report Identifies Flaws in Government Information Policy

The federal government's plan for managing information is inadequate to meet potential challenges of the post-September 11th environment, as well as broad information challenges the government may face as it becomes more electronic, according to a new report from the General Accounting Office -- the investigative arm of Congress.

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A Sacrifice Worth Making

The following proposals suggest we freeze those elements of last year's $1.35 trillion tax cut that are disproportionately weighted to the nation's wealthiest individuals, to allow the country to meet its many pressing needs.

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Economic Stimulus Package Passed by Congress is Lacking: Spring 2002

The House and Senate, by votes of 417-3 and 85-9 respectively, have finalized “economic stimulus” legislation, and it is now on its way to the President, who is expected to sign the bill. The bill’s title -- “Economic Recovery and Assistance for American Workers Act of 2001” -- is misleading given that it is overloaded with huge tax breaks that will do little to stimulate the economy and the provision for unemployed workers and their families is limited to a 13-week extension of unemployment benefits to those whose 26-week benefit limit has expired.

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Coalition Calls for Reduction of Chemical Hazards

The Safe Hometowns Initiative, a coalition of citizen groups, announced yesterday that six months after the Sept. 11 attacks, millions of Americans remain at risk from possible terrorist attacks on chemical storage facilities.

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