Energy: Congress may investigate mining royalties

Posted on January 5, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
Powder River Basin map

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Wyoming ranchers feeling short-changed on coal mining operations in Powder River Basin

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — Along with polluting the water and air, fossil fuel companies may also be short-changing U.S. taxpayers on the royalties they’re supposed to pay for the resources extracted from public lands.

According to a report from an energy think tank, the federal treasury may have missed out on as much as $29 billion over the past 30 years because of the way enerfy companies and federal land managers account for those royalties, and another recent report from the Government Accountability Office found that the federal government’s accounting system does not “provide reasonable assurance that oil and gas are accurately measured.” (more…)

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2013 or 1984?

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Bob Berwyn
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Is the government listening to your phone calls?

Warrantless wiretapping authorized for 5 more years

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The federal government will be able to listen in to your phone calls and snoop around you emails without a warrant for at least five more years, after Congress passed — and President Obama signed — the FISA Amendments Act, which authorizes the government to violate of basic constitutional rights in the name of national security.

The biggest concern for civil liberty advocates is the warrantless wiretapping program that dates back to the Bush administration’s war on terror. The program has helped the government gather intelligence, but critics like U.S. Senator Mark Udall (D-Colo.) say the law doesn’t do a good job of balancing national security and civil liberties.

In a release, Udall said he opposed the extension partly because Congress failed to address the loophole. In past years, Udall has said it’s not even clear how many Americans have been targeted under the program, and called for more transparency and oversight of the program. (more…)

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U.S, security chief quizzed on warrantless surveillance

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

A Cold War listening station near Berlin.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The so-called war on terror has resulted in a fundamental change in U.S. policies on interrogations and surveillance, with most civil rights advocates claiming that the government has gone too far in the name of security.

Those excesses include 2008 provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that enable the government to conduct warrantless surveillance and searches of communications like emails and phone calls.

Because the operations conducted by the government under those provisions is shrouded in secrecy, nobody really knows how many communications have been intercepted and read. (more…)

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Colorado: Udall seeks more transparency on spying laws

Posted on July 17, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Colorado Sen. Mark Udall.

Two senators ask for an unclassified explanation of the government’s geolocation collection authority and Details on FISA Amendments Act interpretations

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The U.S. Government should be more transparent about how it uses existing intelligence laws to spy on people, Sen. Mark Udall said in a recent letter to the James R. Clapper, Jr., director of national intelligence.

Along with Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden, Udall said the Senate should take a close look at how the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act has been interpreted and implemented. The act was signed into law in 1978 by President Jimmy Carter. It was passed by Congress partly as the result of investigations into espionage abuses by the Nixon administration.

We believe that the debate over these initiatives will be better informed if Congress and the public are provided with more unclassified information about how these initiatives will affect current intelligence authorities and activities,” Wyden and Udall wrote in the letter.

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden.

The two Democrats requested unclassified information that will be at issue as Congress debates the FISA Amendments Act, due for extension in 2012. They want more information on a 2007 statement by the Office of Management and Budget’s that it would “likely be impossible” to count the number of people whose communications were reviewed by government agents.

There have also been recurring violations of the FISA Amendments Act, and Wyden and Udall also want to determine whether or not the law has been used to collect communications of law abiding Americans. Wyden and Udall earlier this year called for the declassification of secret interpretations of the Patriot Act.

The Senators also asked for information on another increasingly talked-about area of surveillance law involving the use of geolocation data. Taking into account recent advances in geolocation technology, the increasing ease in secret tracking capabilities of individuals on an ongoing, 24/7 basis and law enforcement’s utilization of this technology, Wyden and Udall identified conflicting judicial rulings on the legality of the government surreptitiously tracking an individual’s movements using a mobile electronic device.   (more…)

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Udall says Patriot Act provisions threaten civil liberties

Posted on May 28, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.)

Colorado senator says Americans would be alarmed if they knew how the law is being used, votes against re-authorization

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Saying that the three most controversial provisions of the PATRIOT Act  threaten Americans’ constitutional freedoms, Colorado Sen. Mark Udall this week voted against reauthorization of the counter-terrorism measure.

Udall, a member of the Intelligence and Armed Services committees, says he supports the intent of the PATRIOT Act and believes the government should have the power to conduct surveillance and keep Americans safe. But three key sections of the law need to be amended to guard against government abuse, he said.

“I cannot support the extension of the provisions we are considering today without amendments to ensure there is a check on executive branch authority,” Udall said in a speech on the Senate floor. “And I don’t believe that the Coloradans who elected me to represent them would accept it either.” (more…)

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Polis: defense cuts would help balance federal budget

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Proposed Republican budget cuts everything but defense spending; Polis says cutting troop numbers in Europe could save $378 million

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Instead of cutting already emaciated public lands and environmental budgets, Congressman Jared Polis says his budget amendment to cut American troop strength in Europe could have trimmed $278 million in spending.

But House Republicans, who would rather slash EPA funding, defeated the measure last week.

The Polis amendment would have reduced the American troop count in Europe from more than 80,000 to 35,000 and cut overall troop size 7,500 troops in the next six months. (more…)

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