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Building Just, Equitable, and Effective Environmental Governance Under Biden

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When President elect Joe Biden and Vice-President elect Kamala Harris take office on January 20, 2021, they will need to respond quickly to the compounding disasters of the COVID-19 pandemic and the escalating climate crisis, both of which have had a disproportionate impact on communities of color, especially Black and Indigenous communities. The need for bold climate action and for a federal leadership deeply rooted in justice have never been greater. Both will require more effective environmental data and governance systems that put justice and equity at their center.   

Biden’s Pick for the Office of Public Engagement, Cedric Richmond, Profits While Polluting Industries in His District Avoid Culpability

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Biden’s Pick for the Office of Public Engagement, Cedric Richmond, Profits While Polluting Industries in His District Avoid Culpability

Environmental Enforcement Watch’s new report card on EPA enforcement in Cedric Richmond’s district between 2001 and 2019 adds to the public understanding and discussion around Richmond’s nomination. View the report card here. By Sky Murphy, Megan Raisle, Steve Hansen, Kelsey Breseman, Cole Alder, and Sara Wylie The choice of Rep. Cedric Richmond as director of … Read more

Fifty Years After the EPA’s Formation, EDGI Releases A People’s EPA

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Fifty Years After the EPA’s Formation, EDGI Releases A People’s EPA

Today the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative (EDGI) launches a collaborative digital project, A People’s EPA (APE). Since December 1970, Congress has charged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with implementing laws that protect us from air pollution, dirty water, and hazardous waste. Launching 50 years after the EPA’s establishment, the new project website helps illuminate the complex history, present day struggles, and future direction of the country’s lead environmental agency.

EDGI is hiring! Development Director — Part-Time

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EDGI is hiring! Development Director — Part-Time

Job Posting: Development Director — Part-time  Dates: February 1, 2021 – August 31, 2021 Compensation: $48 per hour Expected hours: 20 hours per week Location: Fully remote Position Description  The Development Director will develop and implement the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative’s (EDGI’s) fundraising strategy. They will help EDGI build and activate its network to … Read more

Only One EPA Web Resource Has Been Restored — Entirely Scrubbed of Climate Change Content

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Only One EPA Web Resource Has Been Restored — Entirely Scrubbed of Climate Change Content

The “Climate and Energy Resources for State, Local, and Tribal Governments” website (left) was replaced with the “Energy Resources for State, Local, and Tribal Governments” website (right), which omitted all climate information. Welcome! This post is part of the EDGI Website Monitoring Team’s “Change of the Week” blog series. The purpose of this series is … Read more

Change of the Week: Story of Clean Power Plan Website Removal Underscores Need for Better Information Policies

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Change of the Week: Story of Clean Power Plan Website Removal Underscores Need for Better Information Policies

This week’s change of the week was made in April 2017 and features the redirecting of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan website to a single webpage about a 2017 executive order on “energy independence.” We discussed this issue in our 2018 public comment on the proposed repeal of the Clean Power Plan, and it underscores the urgent need to develop better web resource policies. 

Democratizing Data Reports Released by EDGI’s Environmental Enforcement Watch

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Democratizing Data Reports Released by EDGI’s Environmental Enforcement Watch

Seventy-six congressional report cards released by Environmental Data & Governance Initiative’s Environmental Enforcement Watch on October 22, 2020, show a decline in compliance and enforcement for key U.S. environmental laws under the Trump administration. The report cards are summarized in the new report, Democratizing Data: Environmental Enforcement Watch’s Report Cards for Congressional Oversight of the EPA, which provides for the first time an analysis of Environmental Protection Agency data on compliance and enforcement in the districts and states of the representatives and senators serving on the two congressional committees tasked with overseeing the Environmental Protection Agency.

Making a public dataset: reviewing and reclassifying changes to federal environmental webpages

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Making a public dataset: reviewing and reclassifying changes to federal environmental webpages

Blog written by Alejandro Paz Lead image shows the HTML source code comparison for two versions of the same page, on which “greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint” was changed to “environmental footprint.”  Making a Public Dataset For the past three and a half years, EDGI has been monitoring U.S. federal agency environmental webpages and … Read more

Change of the Week: It’s the two-year anniversary of EPA abandoning its Climate Change website “updates”

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Change of the Week: It’s the two-year anniversary of EPA abandoning its Climate Change website “updates”

Welcome! This post is part of the EDGI Website Monitoring Team’s “Change of the Week” blog series. The purpose of this series is to highlight interesting changes we have observed in the language used on, or access to, federal websites. We want to share these changes to encourage public engagement with and discussion of their … Read more

Change of the Week: Stripping information and stripping protections for migratory birds

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Change of the Week: Stripping information and stripping protections for migratory birds

Welcome! This post is part of the EDGI Website Monitoring Team’s “Change of the Week” blog series. The purpose of this series is to highlight interesting changes we have observed in the language used on, or access to, federal websites. We want to share these changes to encourage public engagement with and discussion of their … Read more