A data quality challenge recently filed by an industry group may have influenced government officials’ recommendation that the greater sage grouse not be listed as an endangered species. The Partnership for the West is a coalition of organizations, which support a largely anti-environment agenda and receive support from corporations like Dow Chemical.

In a surprising move, congressional and White House negotiators agreed on intelligence reform legislation that created no major victories for the public interest but could have been much worse for open government and environmental protection near the nation’s borders. The final bill still keeps secret the total intelligence budget, which the Washington Post estimated to be approximately $40 billion. The 9/11 Commission had pushed Congress to catalyze stronger public oversight of the government’s intelligence activities by disclosing the total annual budget.