WASHINGTON D.C. – The Institute for Energy Research (IER) renewed a request to the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for documents related to the administration’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline earlier this year. Recent reports indicate that EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has used at least one alias email account to conduct official government business, and IER believes that the EPA’s non-responsiveness to the organization’s original March 15 request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) may owe, in part, to the administrator’s use of alias accounts that were not covered in the earlier letter.
“Given the allegation that senior EPA officials have conducted official business on alternate email addresses under assumed names, we believe that there may be documents responsive to our request within those alternate email accounts,” IER Director of State and Regulatory Affairs Daniel Simmons wrote.
“Similarly, the recent use of non-government email addresses by federal officials for official business suggests that senior EPA officials may be using their personal email accounts in crafting policy for the Keystone XL pipeline.”
Last week, reports surfaced that EPA Administrator Jackson has been using the alias “Richard Windsor,” though other names appear to have been used on other occasions. The Institute for Energy Research, a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit organization – has closely monitored developments relating to Obama administration energy policy and the Keystone XL pipeline.
The renewed FOIA request notes the White House commitment to becoming the “most open and transparent” administration in history. IER requests EPA to produce the relevant documents – including all correspondence, communications, and phone logs – within 20 working days.
To read IER’s November 19 FOIA request to the EPA, click here.
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