Political 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...

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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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White House Interferes with Smog Rule

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced March 12 its revision to the national air quality standard for ozone, or smog. While the new standard is an improvement, EPA did not go as far as its own scientists had recommended. Last-minute changes orchestrated by the White House have also mired the rule change in controversy. In addition to the new standard, EPA proposed legislative changes to the Clean Air Act, which environmentalists and lawmakers immediately criticized.

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After Long Delays, House Creates Independent Ethics Panel

On March 11, the House voted to create an Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE). The six-member independent panel will have the power to begin formal investigations into allegations of ethics violations of House members and either dismiss the claims or refer them to the House Ethics Committee. OCE members will be appointed jointly by the Speaker of the House and the Minority Leader. The debate over the panel was intense, and Democratic leaders were forced to pull the proposal from the floor twice before the vote. The vote ends a process that took more than a year to resolve.

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Dudley Uses Ozone Rule to Advance Industry Interests and Anti-Regulatory Ideology

Mar 14, 2008 by Matthew Madia

The White House's interference in EPA's revision to the national standard for ozone, a.k.a. smog, which the agency announced Wednesday, ignores public health and welfare. OIRA Administrator Susan Dudley, with President Bush in her corner, pushed forward with her industry friendly, anti-regulatory ideology in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence and in violation of the law.

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Bush, Cheney, and OMB Leave Fingerprints on Smog Standard

Mar 13, 2008 by Matthew Madia

Yesterday evening, EPA announced its long-awaited decision on the national standard for ozone, a.k.a. smog. As expected, EPA chose to tighten the primary standard to 0.075 parts per million (ppm) from its current level of 0.084 ppm. The secondary standard for ozone will remain identical to the primary standard.

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Bush Administration Continues to Ignore CO2 Emissions -- and the Law

Mar 12, 2008 by Matthew Madia

The White House has stopped EPA efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, according to an investigation of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released today. After the Bush administration had refused for six years to acknowledge global warming, the Supreme Court last April prodded EPA to consider regulating greenhouse gases (Massachusetts v. EPA). In a letter to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, committee chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) outlines how we got to where we are today:

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House Approves Outside Ethics Panel

Mar 12, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

With a vote of 229 to 182, the House passed H.Res. 895 to create a new independent panel, the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE). The new body will be able to initiate investigations of possible misconduct. Those who opposed creating the panel charged that it would encourage partisan complaints. After a proposal was pulled from the floor twice recently with clear bipartisan doubts, chairman of the ethics task force Representative Michael Capuano (D-MA) made changes to alleviate some concerns.

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Regulations to Watch for as Bush Clock Runs Out

Mar 11, 2008 by Matthew Madia

In "Rush Is On to Cement Regulations," Wall Street Journal reporter Elizabeth Williamson previews some regulations the Bush administration may finalize in its waning days of power: Industries from agriculture to power are pressing for the Bush administration to act on a slew of pending regulations, betting they will do worse no matter who wins the White House in the fall. Among the rules the article mentions:

Changes to the Family and Medical Leave Act;
Reduced limits on emissions from power plants near national parks; and

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Polar Bear Indecision Will Be Investigated

Mar 10, 2008 by Matthew Madia

The Department of Interior's inspector general is conducting a preliminary investigation into the Department's continuing delay of a decision to protect the polar bear, according to the Associated Press. Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) missed a January deadline to decide whether to list the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act.

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A Year Has Gone By and Still No Vote on a Change to House Ethics Enforcement

Mar 7, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

A measure to create a new Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), a panel of non-House members that would revise the House ethics process, has been delayed twice in a week. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) has told House Democrats to expect a vote next week, but CQ ($$) suggests that such a plan "might be an overly optimistic goal." Many members oppose turning over House ethics investigations to outsiders. Possibly, if there is no vote on the outside ethics panel next week, it could be held until early April.

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Bush Administration to Alter Employee Leave Protections

Mar 7, 2008 by Matthew Madia

The Department of Labor (DOL) has announced a proposed rule that would alter federal protections for workers who need to take leave to care for themselves or their families. DOL chose to pursue the rule changes after hearing complaints from industry lobbyists. The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) allows employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period without risking their pay, benefits, or position. According to DOL, employees can apply for FMLA leave "for the birth of a child; for the placement of a child for adoption or foster care; to care for a newborn or newly-placed child; to care for a spouse, parent, son or daughter with a serious health condition; or when the employee is unable to work due to the employee's own serious health condition." According the National Partnership for Women and Families, a nonprofit organization that works on workplace fairness issues and has expertise on FMLA, several provisions in the proposed rule would make it more difficult for workers to take FMLA leave.

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