If you want to interview an EPA official about a drinking water pollution catastrophe or a controversy about air pollution from fracking, the press office may do its best to stop you. Examples abound. But, there are ways for journalists to push back. Read about them here.
The federal government has not only done very little to protect the public from the mass-casualty threats chemical facilities present to neighboring communities, they've focused efforts on keeping the public from knowing about those threats or the government's own failures to keep them safe. Now the U.S. EPA has signaled that it is about to revise a key rule governing chemical facility safety and security.
"Proposed answers from Environment Canada to questions about a 2013 oilsands leak triggered emails suggesting the ministry 'limit information' given to media."
"Going into their annual meeting in Dallas, Texas on Wednesday, ALEC — the secretive organization that brings together conservative politicians and major corporate interests — is looking to recalibrate their approach to repealing or obstructing a range of clean energy initiatives after a year of state-level defeats."
"One of Washington’s most influential lobbying firms made thousands of dollars in political contributions to U.S. lawmakers as it worked on behalf of the Alberta government to promote Keystone, documents reveal."
"The nation gets its chance this week to blast or praise the Environmental Protection Agency’s sweeping plan to cut climate-warming emissions by 2030."
"WASHINGTON — A progressive business advocacy group said that small business owners from around the country support greater efforts by the federal government to protect the nation’s water, according to a poll the group commissioned."
"For years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been frustrated in its efforts to pursue hundreds of cases of water pollution — repeatedly tied up in legal fights about exactly what bodies of water it has the authority to monitor and protect. Efforts in Congress to clarify the EPA's powers have been defeated. And two Supreme Court decisions have done little to decide the question."
"A Boulder County District Court judge has struck down Longmont's fracking ban but said the ban can remain in place while the city considers an appeal."
"A recent accident highlights how state fracking laws protect corporate trade secrets over public safety."
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