Government Web Secrecy Doesn't Provide Security

A recent report by the RAND Corporation reveals that information scrubbed from government websites after the Sept. 11 attacks were unnecessary and unproductive in protecting against terrorism. Many government agencies have removed extensive amounts of information from their websites on the remote chance it could be misused by terrorists. The RAND report establishes that the agencies' approach of viewing information only as a threat and not considering the benefits is erroneous.

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Court Orders Release of Additional Energy Task Force Documents

U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman ordered several federal agencies to release documents related to Vice President Cheney's energy task force April 1. The administration previously withheld the documents under the guise that agency employees could claim special confidentially privileges while working for the task force. The court order represents another victory for right to know and government accountability.

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The Bush Administration's Openness Policy Serves Self Interests

The Bush administration is using classification selectively for political purposes evidenced by its inconsistent decisions on declassifying documents, according to a recent Washington Post article. In the article, critics outline a pattern of document classification that supports the administration's positions and the inappropriate classification of information that contradicts the President's positions.

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Environmental Protection Agency Fast-Tracking Review of Website Link Policy

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expediting a review of its policy concerning links from the agency’s website to external sites. EPA had originally scheduled the review for January 2005, but moved it up in response to a letter from Reps. Cubin (R-WY) and Gibbons (R-NV). The letter accused EPA of inappropriately linking to extremist groups. OMB Watch and Environmental Defense are among the specific groups the congressmen were referring to.

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Environmental Protection Agency's Egregious Error Misled Public on Drinking Water

A March 5 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Inspector General's report revealed that EPA consistently misstated information on the quality of the nations drinking water over the years 1999 to 2002. EPA claimed in several documents during that time that that 91 percent of citizens had access to safe drinking water. According to other EPA documents reviewed by the Inspector General and interviews with state officials, however, only about 81 percent of the country had access to safe drinking water in 2002 much less than the published 94 percent estimate for that year.

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Bush Administration Surpressing Documents in Classification Frenzy

The Bush administration is classifying documents at nearly twice the rate of the Clinton administration, according to statistics compiled by the Information Security Oversight Office, an arm of the National Archives and Records Administration. The current administration has classified 44.5 million records and documents in two years, roughly the same number of records classified during the final four years of Clinton’s administration.

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EPA Chided by Senate Environment Committee

A letter from the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Mike Leavitt has urged the agency to respond to requests for information from both Democrats and Republicans on the committee.

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