"A Democratic lawmaker along with a group of nearly 40 media publications are raising concerns over a new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) public information rule that could allow political officials more leeway to withhold requested documents."
"Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), the chairwoman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, said she is “deeply troubled” by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) lack of cooperation with lawmakers in a letter sent Thursday to EPA chief Andrew Wheeler. Johnson said the EPA's failure to provide requested information to her committee represented an “obstruction of Congress,” and she threatened “compulsory measures” if it does not provide previously requested information by July and August deadlines.
EPA scientists commonly tell reporters they are not allowed to talk to media without permission from the agency's press office. Now congressional Democrats have introduced a bill reinforcing the right of scientists to talk to reporters.
"Senators from both sides of the aisle are backing a bill to strengthen the public’s ability to obtain government records, seeking to counteract recent changes that make it easier for the Trump administration to withhold information."
A good-government advocacy group filed suit July 23, arguing that EPA's June 26 Freedom of Information Act rule had been issued illegally and violated FOIA law. The group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) asked a federal district court in D.C. to strike down the new EPA rule.
"The Ohio legislature passed a measure Tuesday that cuts renewable energy and energy efficiency programs while adding subsidies for nuclear and coal-fired power plants—a policy cocktail that opponents say is backward-looking and harmful to the economy, consumers and the environment."
"An influential group of Democrats in the House of Representatives on Tuesday set an ambitious target for United States greenhouse gas emissions, calling for a reduction to net-zero by 2050."
"A federal judge has dealt a blow to a group of fossil fuel companies being sued by Rhode Island over the costs of climate change impacts with a decision to move the case back to the state court system."
"Former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is lining up consulting clients in industries regulated by his former department at the same time he decries the ethics investigations that drove him from the Trump administration."
The plastics industry is sponsoring PR and lobbying campaigns to make it illegal for local governments to ban plastic producsts to limit waste and pollution.
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