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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Letter From Congressman Doolittle

Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-CA) mailed a letter asking for suggestions for steps that "a new president can enact immediately upon taking office to go on the offensive against the extreme environmentalists." According to the letter, Doolittle's goal is not only to fight environmental and protections, but to "force [those who support human health and environmental protections] to spend money and resources, weakening their influence." Dear Friend:

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Cyber Security Information Act, HR 4246

106TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. ll IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Mr. DAVIS of Virginia (for himself and Mr. MORAN of Virginia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on lllllllllllllll A BILL To encourage the secure disclosure and protected exchange of information about cyber security problems, solutions, test practices and test results, and related matters in connection with critical infrastructure protection.

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EPA Set to Release New TRI Data for 1998 - No Immediate Access through RTK NET

EPA has indicated it plans to release 1998 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data at 2:00 p.m. EDST on Thursday, May 11, 2000. For the first time in ten years, EPA has not provided the data in advance for posting on RTK NET. We do not know when we will be able to make 1998 TRI data available - with our easy-to-use search capabilities -- on RTK NET. We hope to obtain the data very soon and will make every effort to provide public access to the new data as soon as possible. EPA's Envirofacts system can be accessed at www.epa.gov/enviro (click on Toxics Release Inventory).

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FERC Proposes Changes to Public Access Policies

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) seeks public input on “changes that should be made to its regulations to restrict unfettered general public access to critical energy infrastructure information, but still permit those with a need for the information to obtain it in an efficient manner.” The request for public input was published Jan. 16, 2002 by FERC and appeared in the Jan. 23, 2002 Federal Register. Read the press release on FERC's site.

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President Issues Welfare Reauthorization Proposal

The President released his Welfare Reform Agenda last week and with it came much concern from those who are currently working to ensure that changes are made to the 1996 welfare reform law to address the needs of those who are working (currently defined as a success under the 1996 welfare reform law measurement) but are still unable to provide for the basic needs of their families.

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John Graham Advises EPA to Improve Information Policies

John Graham, administrator of OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, today released a “prompt letter” to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urging the agency to take three steps to improve public access to its information. Graham’s top priority is to have EPA establish an identification number for each facility reporting information to the agency.

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Bush Administration?s E-Government Strategy Released

Vice President Cheney recently (February 27) unveiled the administration’s plans to harness the Internet to make government more responsive and accessible, focusing mostly on transactions, such as the filing of taxes, while giving little attention to the dissemination of information.

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DOE Forced to Turn Over Energy Task Force Documents

In a ruling that upholds the public’s right to access government information, a D.C. federal district court ordered the Department of Energy (DOE) on February 21 to hand over documents to the Natural Resources Defense Council that relate to the workings of Vice President Dick Cheney’s energy task force.

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What's the Social Security "Surplus" Got to Do with It Anyway?

In Congress, "saving the Social Security surplus" has become a veritable mantra during the current appropriations process. What does this mean?

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Tax Cuts vs. Everything Else

We can either choose to pay now, or we will have to pay later -- preventing social ills is much cheaper in the long run. From a purely economic standpoint, many economists agree that a return to deficits is not a problem -- running a surplus would actually be more of problem -- and that this economic climate prescribes more government spending, not less.

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