Whistleblowers

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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Sixth Annual Ridenhour Awards Honor Truth-Telling, Courage

The Sixth Annual Ridenhour Awards were presented April 16 by the Nation Institute and the Fertel Foundation. The awards are presented each year to journalists and whistleblowers in honor of Ron Ridenhour, a former Vietnam veteran who exposed the 1968 massacre at My Lai. The awards are given to those who act to protect the public interest and promote social justice. The 2009 awardees were Thomas Tamm, Bob Herbert, Jane Mayer, and Nick Turse.

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Administration Invokes Nuremberg Defense

Apr 16, 2009 by Roger Strother*

On April 16, the Department of Justice released a series of four Bush administration memoranda issued by the Office of Legal Counsel concerning the legality of “coercive interrogation” (read: torture) but effectively pardoned government officials from accountability for past actions. President Obama announced that the government would not prosecute CIA officers who engaged in illegal behavior because the Bush administration had claimed it to be legal.

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Transparency Concerns Raised about EPA Nominee

President-elect Barack Obama's nominee to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Lisa Jackson, has drawn both praise and criticism from environmental advocates. Some have accused Jackson of limiting public participation, denying the release of information to the public, and weakening scientific integrity in her time as a state environmental commissioner in New Jersey. Other environmentalists have hailed the nomination and believe the events should not be attributed to Jackson.

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SEC Wants Transparency in Wall Street Credit Gambling

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Christopher Cox recently emphasized the urgent need for transparency of currently unregulated credit transactions, called credit default swaps (CDS), that contributed to the ongoing economic crisis. Cox is using the SEC's program to modernize its electronic disclosure system as a platform to call for oversight while the agency investigates alleged fraudulent transactions. Meanwhile, two other federal agencies are vying for regulatory oversight of CDS and industry is lobbying to minimize the impact. At issue will be whether transparency is accompanied with any other forms of accountability.

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Consumer Product Safety Reform Clears Congress

Congress has approved a bill that will revamp the nation's consumer product safety net. The legislation reforms the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to enable the agency to better enforce safety standards in a market dominated by cheap imports and requires new standards for dangerous substances like lead and phthalates.

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Whistleblower Week in Washington

Whistleblower advocates convene in Washington, DC, this week (May 12-16) for events dedicated to honoring whistleblowers, promoting their protection, and educating the public and Congress about the most pressing issues for whistleblowers today.

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Pressure Flushes CDC Report Out of Hiding

In response to allegations of suppression of science, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released a draft report that the agency will continue to modify due to CDC concerns that the report too closely links environmental pollution with adverse health effects in the Great Lakes region.

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Bipartisan Consensus Forming on CPSC Reform

Although differences between the House and Senate still exist, Congress is moving toward a bipartisan agreement on major reforms to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Bills from each chamber need to be reconciled, but if Congress can agree on a single proposal, it will set up a showdown with the Bush administration over new provisions intended to expand consumer protections by revitalizing the CPSC.

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CDC Watering Down Great Lakes Report on Toxics

After significantly delaying the release of a report that identifies alarming toxic health risks for the Great Lakes region, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now reportedly planning to release a substantially modified document.

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NASA Inspector General Faces Tough Questioning from Congress

On June 7, the Senate and House held a joint hearing to investigate the conduct of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Inspector General, Robert Cobb. The hearing was conducted by the House Science and Technology Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight and the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Space, Aeronautics and Related Matters.

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