by Chris Horner, E&E Legal Senior Legal Fellow As Appearing in USA Today Another week of the Trump presidency, another bout of fevered reporting on claims promoted by the career (and holdover) federal employee “resistance.” But particularly when it comes to climate change, it seems the ordinary way of doing things is simply too much [...]
by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow As Appearing in The Daily Sentinel One of Shakespeare’s most famous lines comes when Hamlet asks his mother how she reacts to a certain character’s effusive and flowery language, and she responds, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” It’s among the bard’s many lines still quoted [...]
Heartland Institute Press Release The New York Times this week posted a draft of a climate science report by the federal government’s U.S. Global Change Research Program. The Timesclaimed it was leaking a confidential document, but apparently the draft was available for public comment for months. The report, which you can read here, was written by Obama-era staffers [...]
Emily Holden Politico EPA chief Scott Pruitt’s attacks on mainstream climate science are causing discomfort in a surprising corner — among many of the conservative and industry groups that have cheered his efforts to dismantle Barack Obama’s environmental regulations. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, political groups backed by the Koch brothers and the top lobbying [...]
by Chris White The Daily Caller Vermont is refusing to comply with a court order forcing officials to release communications about the state’s supposed involvement in a climate inquisition against fossil fuel groups, a conservative legal group said Monday. Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan denied conservative group E&E Legal’s request for communication between former Attorney [...]
Caledonian Record Editorial Last week Superior Court Judge Mary Miles Teachout rejected a bogus effort by the Vermont Attorney General’s office to keep public records secret. “The significance of that decision is that the Attorney General’s Office is subject to the public records act,” said E&E Legal attorney Matthew Hardin... We’re pleased by Judge Teachout’s [...]
The Associated Press A Vermont judge says that the state attorney general's office does not have a blanket exemption from the state public records law... The Washington, D.C.-based Energy and Environment Legal Institute had requested emails and other correspondence showing how Vermont and other states in a climate change coalition responded to public records requests. [...]
by Anne Galloway Vermont Digger In a victory for open records advocates, a Washington Superior Court judge has ruled that the Vermont attorney general’s office cannot categorically deny public access to documents. Judge Mary Miles Teachout ordered the AG’s office to release records to the Energy and Environment Legal Institute in 30 days. The institute, [...]
April McCullum Burlington Free Press A Vermont judge has rejected the argument that the Vermont Attorney General's Office is exempt from state public records law and ordered the office to release some documents. The Attorney General's Office had argued in a March court hearing that because it is a law office, all of its work [...]
by Mark Tapscott Daily Caller Conservative government watchdog group Judicial Watch is leading two liberal groups in an explosion of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits, seeking to force federal officials to publicize thousands of previously hidden documents, according to a new study by The FOIA Project... Other active nonprofit FOIA litigants include the Electronic Privacy Information [...]
