In 2017, there have been major reductions to public access to public information about the environment, energy, and climate change on federal websites, including EPA, DOE, DOT, Interior, State, USDA and the White House.
Continue readingWhy we’re joining Sunlight to report on public access to public information
We're monitoring changes public access to public information on federal government websites under the Trump administration.
Continue readingLaw Via the Internet
This week saw Cornell's Law Via the Internet, a gathering dedicated to free access to government information, with a special emphasis on legal and regulatory data. It was highly energizing to see all the terrific projects represented there, and to meet the people behind them. If you're not aware, Cornell's Legal Information Institute is the preeminent place to read the law of the land (the US Code) on the Internet. They have been doing this for 20 years, since 1992—when the Internet was a much newer place, and when publishing the laws online was an act of radical democracy. We think of "having laws online somewhere" as self-evident and obvious now, but it wasn't always so. Because of their foresight, law.cornell.edu is known by just about every law student and legal professional in the country, often moreso than the official resources.
Continue reading