Project Partners

"Democracy isn't always pretty; it's not always neat and tidy, and it's often contentious. But it is, without doubt, the best form of government yet devised because it gives every person a voice in the system and a chance to change the course of events. Democracy gives real power to individual citizens, but with that power comes responsibility. Democracy is not a spectator sport." Administrator Whitman

The mission of the Environmental Protection Agency is to protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment -- air, water and land -- upon which life depends.

EPA is moving to take advantage of the opportunities created by new information technology. We are committed to encouraging environmental action and stewardship more broadly throughout society and are working to make information widely available so others can understand and help solve environmental problems. Our efforts involve businesses and industry, but they also include individuals and organizations that have often been on the fringes of environmental protection efforts in the past. We know that if more people and industries are given information in forms they can readily use and understand, they will be in a better position to act constructively. Increasingly, we will be relying on action by individuals at the local level for environmental and human health protection efforts to succeed.

Today, new information technologies are making it possible to gather, analyze, and present data in ways that were never before possible. Expanding public access to this information is a top priority, and we are using all of the tools at our disposal to do so. As a result, citizens now have access to much more environmental information than they did a decade ago. EPA is requiring more reporting on industrial toxic emissions, on the quality of drinking water supplied to consumers, and on the environmental performance levels of companies and individual business sectors. To maximize accessibility, we are putting this and other information on the Internet to reach a rapidly growing audience. One such Internet site, the Envirofacts Data Warehouse, provides the public direct access to a wealth of information about environmental activities that may affect air, water, and land anywhere in the United States. A program called EnviroMapper enables users to view and query information about EPA-regulated facilities which is stored in the Envirofacts Warehouse. EnviroMapper can also be used to view environmental statistics, profiles, and trends as well as environmental information for certain U.S. metropolitan areas, watersheds, and Superfund sites. Both Envirofacts and EnviroMapper, as well as AIRNow (an EPA Web site that provides real-time air quality information), provide the type of Internet capabilities that enhance the public's ability to make informed environmental decisions for their communities.

RFF is a nonprofit and nonpartisan think tank located in Washington, DC that conducts independent research - rooted primarily in economics and other social sciences - on environmental and natural resource issues. RFF prides itself on its reputation for doing independent, non-partisan research and policy analysis of the highest quality. RFF neither lobbies nor takes positions on specific legislative or regulatory proposals.

Founded in 1952, RFF today has more than 40 researchers working on a variety of issues, ranging from climate change to electric utility restructuring to sustainable forestry. For the past 4 years, RFF has been engaged in a variety of research projects on public participation in environmental policymaking, including an examination of the Internet as means for increasing citizens' involvement in decisions that affect their lives.

RFF is a publicly-funded organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Its operating budget is derived in approximately equal amounts from three sources: investment income from a reserve fund; government grants; and contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations (corporate support cannot be earmarked for specific research projects).

Information Renaissance is a nonprofit corporation based in Pittsburgh and Washington that promotes the use of technology in support of civic engagement in two ways: by encouraging the use of networking infrastructure and by facilitating interactive discussions related to governmental issues. At present those who live outside Washington, no matter how interested or well informed they may be, rarely have an opportunity to participate in the development of national legislation or public policy. This leaves citizens feeling disconnected from their government, and deprives decision-makers of the full benefit of the experience, knowledge and intelligence of the American people.

The current Dialogue is one in a series of online discussions that address these issues. In addition, Information Renaissance has developed a prototype system to organize and manage online discussions between and among government officials and informed citizens concerning issues that are on the legislative or rulemaking agenda. In both cases our objective is to develop a model that goes beyond e-mail and online opinion surveys or discussion groups, and fosters meaningful, high-level, interactive dialogue between informed members of the public and governmental leaders.