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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RTK NET Releases 2002 Toxic Release Inventory Data

The Right-to-Know Network (RTK NET) published the 2002 Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) data today, providing public access to important Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data on the release and transfer of toxic chemicals in the U.S. The 2002 data shows an overall increase of 5 percent in toxic releases -- the first year in which this measurement increased since 1997.

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Congress Mulls Secrecy on Several Fronts

Those who care about American's right to know would do well to keep eyes peeled on recent congressional action. Proposals to amend the USA Patriot Act and spending bills are at the center of congressional debate over openness in government. In that debate, which pits the doctrine of reauthorization of federalism against the government's penchant for secrecy, the Senate added a provision to a $350 billion transportation bill (H.R. 3550) that would preempt state and local sunshine laws in order to mandate secrecy about public safety problems in aviation, rail and other transportation systems.

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Bush and Ashcroft: A Pattern of Stonewalling (or Secrecy)

By Gary D. Bass, Executive Director, OMB Watch
Op-ed distributed through Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service's op-ed series on freedom of information
As Congress investigates U.S. abuse and torture of prisoners in Iraq, a 50-page Justice Department memo has surfaced that says torture "may be justified" and legal. Along with this shocking news is Attorney General John Ashcroft's disturbing refusal to release it to Congress. Yet this is only the latest instance in a three-year pattern of stonewalling and withholding of information -- business as usual for the Bush administration -- where the lack of public disclosure does serious harm to public safety and trust in our government.

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Coalition Launched to Reverse Rise in Government Secrecy

Washington, D.C., April 15, 2004 - A new coalition launched its campaign and website to combat growing government secrecy Thursday, and released its survey report, Ten Most Wanted Documents for 2004. The survey results indicate the government should disclose more information to the public than its current policies and practices achieve. OpenTheGovernment.org, comprised of 33 organizations working on freedom of information issues, announced its creation and the report at a 2 p.m. news conference at the National Press Club.

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Bush Administration Refuses Congress Again, Hides Memos

Last week, Attorney General John Ashcroft testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee and repeatedly refused several Senators' requests to produce a copy of the recently leaked Justice Department memo that explored the legal justifications for torture.

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Politics, Not Science, Alters Air Quality Models

Government air quality modeling experts from around the country are opposing a new Bush administration policy, which they contend threatens air quality and public health. They are among a growing number of scientists and other critics, who charge the Bush administration with manipulating science to support predetermined political outcomes. Most significantly, this may be the first time such criticism has been leveled from scientists inside a federal agency.

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Kentucky Reconsiders Homeland Security Exemption for Open Records Law

After unsuccessfully pushing a bill to create a homeland security exemption to Kentucky's Open Records Act, Democratic Representative Mike Weaver intends to re-propose the bill after the state's homeland security director requested such a provision.

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Beware of Bad Economic Policy - The Balanced Budget Amendment Set to Return

The long-ago defeated proposal for a balanced budget amendment is rearing its ugly head once again. Unable to pass a budget this year and desperate to create the appearance of being fiscally responsible, the Republican leaders in the House of Representatives are promising a vote on the measure.

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Economy and Jobs Watch: Steady Job Growth Threatened by Higher Oil and Gas Prices

The number of new jobs created in May declined to a steady 248,000, according to the Department of Labor. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.6 percent. This data reinforces the past two months' data and shows that the labor market continues to tread water - much higher jobs numbers will be necessary to bring the unemployment rate down.

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