The speed and ease of this Canadian revolution by incoming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau belies the "common wisdom" among many jaded reporters and PR professionals that muzzling of U.S. government scientists and officials is somehow inevitable and woven into the culture of government.
"House Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) [Thursday] proposed comprehensive reforms to the Land and Water Conservation Fund in a bill that would send significantly more money to states and greatly curtail the purchase of new federal lands."
"Action" may be too strong a word. For that matter, "open" may be too strong a word. The Obama administration Tuesday unveiled its third "National Action Plan" at the international Open Government Partnership in Mexico. But note that many items are held over from the second plan because they have not yet been accomplished.
"The Land and Water Conservation Fund, a pot of federal money used for parks and more, expires Sept. 30, and the latest draft of a budget resolution doesn’t include any language reauthorizing the fund, meaning new money won’t go into the fund after it expires."
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has for years suppressed full disclosure of the National Inventory of Dams, once a key tool for journalists reporting on dam safety — or the government's failure to ensure it. Now that tool is back in the toolbox ... mostly.
Several data resources can help journalists who want to develop stories about still-hazardous sites in their locality or region, including EPA's National Priorities List, CERCLIS database and state agencies.
Access to water quality data was an issue at one highly politicized House hearing on the August 5, 2015, toxic spill from a long-abandoned mine near Silverton, Colorado, where New Mexico Secretary of Environment Ryan Flynn accused EPA of refusing for weeks to share data on the quality of waters fouled by the spill.
"A popular fund that has supported hundreds of parks around the country is set to go away in less than two weeks, and Congressional dithering is to blame."
"Top administration officials wrote Congress on Tuesday to urge it – once again – to change the way it budgets for firefighting in light of the disastrous wildfire season in the western United States."
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