From The Greeley Tribune:  By Michael Sandoval Independence Institute

Coloradans should be concerned that state officials have sought to hide important environmental policy conversations from them.

Through a 2013 federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the Independence Institute found some state officials circumventing transparency while serving in their official capacity, using personal, private email services to skirt the state’s Open Records Act and their own departmental guidelines on state employee email retention.

The emails show an exchange of information on ongoing legislation, as well as coordinated messaging between state and federal government agencies and environmental activists.

The FOIA, filed on behalf of the Independence Institute by the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Chris Horner, revealed former Environmental Protection Agency Region 8 administrator Jim Martin’s extensive use of private emails to create unofficial channels of correspondence with a variety of state officials, environmental activists, scientists, and others.

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