White House Influence and Interference

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 full

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...

read in full

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...

read in full

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...

read in full

more news

EPA to Finally Declare Greenhouse Gases Harmful

Mar 24, 2009 by Matthew Madia

The Environmental Protection Agency stands ready to declare greenhouse gases a harmful air pollutant, setting the federal government on a path toward regulating emissions, according to a plethora of news sources. The New York Times predicts the effects.

read in full

OMB Extends Comment Period on Regulatory Reform

Mar 16, 2009 by Matthew Madia

Update (3/30/09): Tomorrow, Tuesday, March 31, is the final day to submit comments to OMB. You can submit comments by emailing them to oira_submission@omb.eop.gov or faxing them to (202) 395–7245.

read in full

Obama Pledges Food Safety Reform

Mar 16, 2009 by Matthew Madia

Ensuring the safety of the food and drug supply is something “only a government can do,” President Obama said on Saturday. Obama used his weekly address to shine a bright spotlight on food safety, focusing on government’s role in fixing the problems that have led to recent high-profile foodborne illness outbreaks like the current peanut contamination scare.

read in full

EPA May Revise Bush Ozone Standard

Mar 12, 2009 by Matthew Madia

The Environmental Protection Agency may consider revising the current national air quality standard for ozone, or smog, set in March 2008 by the Bush administration.

read in full

Obama Turning Back Clock on Some Bush Midnight Rules

The Obama administration is taking action to reverse controversial regulations finalized in the closing days of the Bush administration, including one affecting endangered species and another limiting access to reproductive health services.

read in full

Experts Vie to Influence Obama on Regulatory Reform

Regulatory experts across the country are angling to change the way federal regulations are written and approved. Since President Barack Obama issued a memo Jan. 30 instructing his administration to rethink the executive order that governs the federal regulatory process, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has been accepting public comments on ideas for reform and meeting with stakeholders.

read in full

Obama Calls for Improved Scientific Integrity

Mar 10, 2009 by Matthew Madia

Yesterday, President Barack Obama issued a memo aimed at restoring scientific integrity in the federal government. Many agencies, especially those charged with protecting the environment, workers, and public health and safety, rely heavily on scientific studies and conclusions. If the science is compromised, the corollary decision may be compromised as well.

read in full

Obama Neuters Bush Rule on Endangered Species

Mar 4, 2009 by Matthew Madia

Yesterday, President Barack Obama issued a memo regarding a Bush-era regulation that weakened the Endangered Species Act. The rule was one of Bush’s many midnight regulations; it went into effect Jan. 15, less than a week before Bush left office.

read in full

OMB Seeking Public Comment on Regulatory Reform

Feb 26, 2009 by Matthew Madia

On Jan. 30 President Obama issued a memo asking federal agencies to help him reform the regulatory process. Obama asked White House Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag to spearhead the effort, and set a deadline of 100 days. (The memo is here, background on the memo is here.)

read in full

EPA Preparing to Battle Climate Change on Multiple Fronts

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), led by new administrator Lisa Jackson, is taking its first steps toward tackling global climate change. Jackson has announced her intent to review several Bush-era policies that limited the agency's ability to curb greenhouse gas emissions through regulation.

read in full