Blog

Update of Sheep in the Closet Report — EPA Enforcement Record in the Trump Administration through Fiscal Year 2018

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By Leif Fredrickson Last year EDGI started looking into the Environmental Protection Agency’s enforcement policies, practices and metrics, after our confidential interviewing project with agency employees suggested there were serious problems with enforcement under the Trump administration. Much has changed since our report, “A Sheep in the Closet: The Erosion of Enforcement at the EPA,” … Read more

‘Environmental Data Justice: Vision and Values’ Event

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A summary by Garance Malivel & the EDJ Working Group On February 28th, 2019, the Environmental Data Justice (EDJ) Working Group hosted its first online public event, starting off a series of conversations at the intersection of data justice and environmental justice work. It brought grassroots projects, activists, academics, and students together to learn from … Read more

EDGI Releases 2019 Annual Report

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EDGI has just released its 2019 Annual Report. We’ve grown and matured as an organization, and have been busy over the past year, continuing to make important contributions to highlighting the dismantling of federal environmental protections, and to thinking proactively about models of environmental data justice. EDGI employs four core strategies to achieve our organizational … Read more

Using Visualization to Illuminate Shifting Climate Rhetorics

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Using Visualization to Illuminate Shifting Climate Rhetorics

Written by Steven Braun As an information designer and visualizer of data, I am often tasked with an important challenge: developing a visual language to communicate the narratives expressed by the data with which I’m working. I typically respond to this challenge by deciding on a visual metaphor – a concept, symbol, or object, often … Read more

EPA MUST PROVIDE MORE ACCESSIBLE AND INFORMATIVE RESOURCES FOR AUTHENTIC PUBLIC COMMENT

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EPA MUST PROVIDE MORE ACCESSIBLE AND INFORMATIVE RESOURCES FOR AUTHENTIC PUBLIC COMMENT

EDGI’s comment focuses on removals of and reductions in access to online resources directly relevant to the proposed redefinition of Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act (CWA) that constrain the public’s ability to effectively participate in this rulemaking process, to understand the impacts of the proposed changes to which aquatic resources would be designated as jurisdictional, and to track CWA implementation.

Worked for “entities accused of violating DOI regulations” and other omissions in the (Nominated) Secretary for the Interior, David Bernhardt’s, Official Bio.

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Worked for “entities accused of violating DOI regulations” and other omissions in the (Nominated) Secretary for the Interior, David Bernhardt’s, Official Bio.

Authors: Jesse DiValli, Sara Wylie, Gretchen Gehrke The Department of Interior’s (DOI) biography page for David Bernhardt, the nominee for Secretary of the Interior, omits description of Bernhardt’s long history of work for fossil fuel and mining companies who have a vested interest in increased access to the public land that the DOI stewards and … Read more

Sage Grouse Informational Resources on BLM Website Inadequate for Public Participation in Management Plan Amendments

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Image credit: Bob Wick Report: Reduction in Access to Sage Grouse Conservation Information and Resource on BLM Websites   The sage grouse, an iconic bird of the western plains who relies on a healthy sagebrush ecosystem, has long been the pawn in debates between conservationists and oil and gas developers. On March 15, 2019, the … Read more

Climate Change Information Gone from DOI Website

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Climate Change Information Gone from DOI Website

By Gretchen Gehrke  EDGI Report: DOI Further Restricts Access to Climate Change Web Pages The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) manages approximately one-fifth of the land area of the United States, including millions of acres it leases for oil and gas extraction.[1] In 2018, the DOI opened more land for lease than ever before … Read more

Fish and Wildlife Service removed online resources after controversial opinion on incidental take

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Fish and Wildlife Service removed online resources after controversial opinion on incidental take

Image: A capture of FWS.gov’s 404 error page. Users will no longer be able to access the site’s “Incidental Take” page. Blog by Aaron Lemelin, Marcy Beck, Gretchen Gehrke Report: Removals of Access to Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Incidental Take Resources on the DOI’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Website President Trump has tapped … Read more

EDGI’s Congressional Testimony for Energy and Commerce Subcommittee Hearing: “EPA Enforcement: Taking the Environmental Cop off the Beat”

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EDGI’s Congressional Testimony for Energy and Commerce Subcommittee Hearing: “EPA Enforcement: Taking the Environmental Cop off the Beat”

On Tuesday February 26th Professor Chris Sellers from Stony Brook University testified on behalf of EDGI for the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Live Stream The hearing “EPA’s Enforcement Program: Taking the Environmental Cop Off The Beat” investigates the EPA’s enforcement record under the Trump administration. EDGI was invited to testify … Read more