E-Beat Explainers: For Congress' Eyes Only

The Congressional Research Service, a taxpayer-funded agency, produces a steady stream of fact-filled and objective background reports on many issues of interest to environment and energy reporters. Sadly, Congress refuses to share them with the public. We thank the Federation of American Scientists' Government Secrecy Project for making them available. Here are some of the latest.

• "Tracking Federal Funds: USAspending.gov and Other Data Sources," Congressional Research Service (R44027), May 13, 2015, by Merete F. Gerli.
• CRS Insights: "Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza: Ongoing Outbreak," Congressional Research Service (IN10279), May 19, 2015, by Joel L. Greene.
• "Congressional Primer on Responding to Major Disasters and Emergencies," Congressional Research Service (R41981), May 19, 2015, by Francis X. McCarthy and Jared T. Brown.
• "Deployable Federal Assets Supporting Domestic Disaster Response Operations: Summary and Considerations for Congress," Congressional Research Service (R43560), May 13, 2015, by Jared T. Brown.
• "Critical Infrastructures: Background, Policy, and Implementation," Congressional Research Service (RL30153), May 12, 2015, by John D. Moteff.
• "Human-Induced Earthquakes from Deep-Well Injection: A Brief Overview," Congressional Research Service (R43836), May 12, 2015, by Peter Folger and Mary Tiemann.
• CRS Insights: "Tesla's Home Battery—An Electricity Storage Breakthrough?" Congressional Research Service (IN10271), May 4, 2015, by Richard J. Campbell and Paul W. Parfomak.