USDA climate terms

Dear Sir or Madam:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

All email correspondence, including attachments, sent or received between January 20, 2017 and March 29, 2017 as well as all records of correspondence, call logs, voicemails and/or voicemail transcriptions, and calendar appointments between January 20, 2017 and March 29, 2017 that meet the following parameters:

(1) Sent or received by Brian Dansel, Joe Alexander, David Blair, Turner Bridgforth, Nicholas Brusky, Samuel Clovis, Carly Couture, Charles Crowe, Jody Cummin,
Brock Densel, George Dunlop, Jacob French, Joseph Gilson, Heidi Green, Donald Gutman, Austin Harris, Bethany Hudson, Kevin Jayne, Dino LaVerghetta, Russell Laird, David Matthews, Auria McAlicher, Brenton McNeely, Thomas Midanek, Ella Mizrahi, Christopher O’Hagan, Tim Page, Cameron Quinn, Elias Rella, James Renne, Michawn Rich, William Russell, Campbell Shuford, Joel Small, Stephen Vaden, Thayer Verschoor, Nicholas Westcott, Joshua Whitehouse, Robyn Whitney, or Larry Young; and
(2) Relate to guidance or rules about the use of the terms “climate change,” “emissions reductions,” or “Paris Agreement”

As a representative of the news media I am only required to pay for the direct cost of duplication after the first 100 pages. Through this request, I am gathering information on possible actions taken to ban the use of these terms, as has been reported at the Department of Energy. That is of current interest to the public as climate change, carbon emissions, and international efforts to reduce them are a matter of public health and welfare, and are currently a subject of national news value (http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/energy-department-climate-change-phrases-banned-236655).

This information is being sought on behalf of ThinkProgress.org (an online news service) for dissemination to the general public and this request is not being made for commercial purposes. I am a reporter with ThinkProgress, an online news site with a national audience seeking these documents entirely for news-gathering purposes.

I would like to receive the information in the following format: electronic.

Please waive any applicable fees. Release of the information is in the public interest because climate change, carbon emissions, and international efforts to reduce them are a matter of public health and welfare, and are currently a subject of national news value. In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request.

If my request is denied in whole or part, I ask that you justify all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the act. I will also expect you to release all segregable portions of otherwise exempt material. I, of course, reserve the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information or to deny a waiver of fees.

As I am making this request as a journalist and this information is of timely value, I would appreciate your communicating with me by email or telephone, rather than by mail, if you have questions regarding this request.

Please provide expedited processing of this request which concerns a matter of urgency. As a journalist, I am primarily engaged in disseminating information. The public has an urgent need for information because climate change is a matter of public health and welfare, and the news that using terms associated with the threat may have been banned would seriously curtail the government’s duty to address it as required by the Clean Air Act.

I certify that my statements concerning the need for expedited processing are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

I look forward to your reply within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Ryan Koronowski
202-478-6333
rkoronowski@thinkprogress.org