Center for Effective Government Op-Eds

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 to the Editor and Response Regarding Aug. 9 Article on New CFC Rules

To the Editor:

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2003 Op-eds on Government Secrecy and Freedom of Information

Read the best published op-eds on the need for open government and threats to information access collected by OMB Watch, OpenTheGovernment.org, and our allies. Permission is granted for free reprinting of any of these articles, provided it credits the author and includes this attribution: "© 2004, distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services." Court struggles with privacy issue in Vincent Foster suicide case By Martin Halstuk

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2004 Op-eds on Government Secrecy and Freedom of Information

Read the best published op-eds on the need for open government and threats to information access collected by OMB Watch, OpenTheGovernment.org, and our allies. Permission is granted for free reprinting of any of these articles, provided it credits the author and includes this attribution: "© 2004, distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services." Let's live up to America's principles By Daniel Alcorn, a freedom of information attorney in Washington.

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NY Times Letter: Secrecy Goes on, despite 9/11 Access (not published)

Readers of "Families Forced a Rare Look at Government Secrecy" (July 22, 2004) might think the president's thwarted efforts to keep secrets from the 9/11 Commission signal a return to open, accountable government. Nothing could be further from the truth.

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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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Editorial: Legal Aid Restrictions

What do stem cell researchers and legal aid lawyers have in common? An op-ed article in the October 2 edition of the Legal Times illustrates how the federal government has used grant restrictions to limit use of private funds in medical research and delivery of legal services to the poor.

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Different Opinion on Chemical Security

OMB Watch responded to a recent Washington Times Op-ed, entitled "Toxic road map for terrorists" with this letter to the editor. Angela Logomasini ("Toxic road map for terrorists," Op-Ed, 9/4/2002) advocates eliminating public access to risk management plans (RMPs) because it is possible the information could be misused. Perhaps she would agree with some in industry that propose government no longer collect RMPs since the information may fall into the wrong hands.

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Pages

more resources

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

Letter to the Editor and Response Regarding Aug. 9 Article on New CFC Rules

2003 Op-eds on Government Secrecy and Freedom of Information

2004 Op-eds on Government Secrecy and Freedom of Information

NY Times Letter: Secrecy Goes on, despite 9/11 Access (not published)

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

Editorial: Legal Aid Restrictions

Different Opinion on Chemical Security

Pages

Living in the Shadow of Danger: Poverty, Race, and Unequal Chemical Facility Hazards

A Tale of Two Retirements: One for CEOs and One for the Rest of Us

Blowing Smoke: Chemical Companies Say “Trust Us,” But Environmental and Workplace Safety Violations Belie Their Rhetoric

Gasping for Support: Implementation of Tougher Air Quality Standards Will Require New Funds for State Agencies

Citizen Health & Safety Topics

Recent Reports

Living in the Shadow of Danger: State Scorecards

Living in the Shadow of Danger: Poverty, Race, and Unequal Chemical Facility Hazards

A Tale of Two Retirements: One for CEOs and One for the Rest of Us