"The U.S. Forest Service has tightened restrictions on media coverage in vast swaths of the country's wild lands, requiring reporters to pay for a permit and get permission before shooting a photo or video in federally designated wilderness areas."
As a nationwide newspaper chain probed safety threats posed to the public by gas pipelines, an Alabama court imposed prior restraint on the Montgomery Advertiser, to prevent it from publishing the Alabama Gas Corporation's safety plan, citing homeland security and trade secrets. Now a judge has ruled that the court erred in granting a temporary restraining order.
The U.S. Forest Service is seeking to harden rules that would require a journalist to get a permit and pay a fee of up to $1,500 in order to report inside a federal wilderness. [Update -- 9/25/14: Forest Service Chief Tidwell says media don't need permit]
"Environmentalists who have tried with little success to stop the Obama administration from leasing billions of tons of coal for mining are hailing a U.S. district court ruling in Colorado last week as a game changer. At issue in Judge R. Brooke Jackson's decision that scrapped federal approval of coal-lease expansion was the impact of coal mining and burning on global warming."
"Government inspectors all over the country are supposed to ensure the meat we eat is safe. But according to a growing chorus of current and former inspectors - and a number of watchdog groups - the U-S meat inspection system isn’t doing its job."
"The Senate confirmed two of President Obama’s nominees to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday."
"A week before major UN talks on climate change, EPA extends comment period for rule to cut carbon pollution from plants."
BLM has drafted a "final" rule — but that must be approved by the White House Office of Management and Budget, which often serves as a backroom channel for industry to change regulations. The final product — still undetermined — is likely to be a disappointment to those who had hoped for Obama administration leadership on fracking disclosure.
Advertisement 
