October 2014


www.hamptonroadsmessenger.com


Pushing for Cities to Take Lead on Climate Change


The Hampton Roads Messenger 3


IRS Audit Reveals Leaks of Taxpayers’ Private Information


BY ERIC BOEHM More bad news from the


IRS.


No, they’re not coming after more of your hard-earned


money, Revenue and


you’re not the subject of an audit (we hope), but the Internal


Service BY A. D. MCKENZIE


mayor Michael Bloomberg had used the


bicycle Cooperation the here Wednesday, he lead


PARIS - If former New York Vélib’ – Paris’ public


sharing system – to arrive at the headquarters of the Organisation for Economic Development


and


might have sent a stronger message about the need for cities to be “empowered


to take


combating climate change”. Yet,


despite in arriving by car,


Bloomberg, the United Nations Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change, spoke persuasively about how efficient environmental policies at local level can lead to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.


A key step is to make populations more aware of the issues by sending the right message, so that voters can make informed decisions, Bloomberg said during an open “discussion” with OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría.


For example, if people saw an


image of a baby on television with “two or three cigarettes dangling out of his or her mouth” and understood that as a symbol of the polluted air that they were breathing in their city, or the air that their children would breathe, the message would hit home, said Bloomberg, the founder and principal owner of the international


media


company that bears his name. If people saw an image of a


baby on television with ‘two or three cigarettes dangling out of his or her mouth’ and understood that as a symbol of the polluted air that they were breathing in their city, or the air that their children would breathe, the message would hit home – Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York


issue,


“People they


will will understand the understand how it


affects them … and what they can do about it,” he said, adding that such understanding will affect their political choices.


At the meeting, Bloomberg and


Gurría “reaffirmed their commitment to support international cities’ efforts to lead in the global fight against climate change” and urged governments to adopt policies to achieve this.


Their


former mayor’s current role: UN Secretary-General appointed


pledge ties in with the Ban Ki-moon


envoy in January to assist him in “consultations


Bloomberg as a special with


mayors and


related key stakeholders in order to raise political will and mobilise action among cities as part of his long-term strategy to advance efforts on climate change”.


concrete


This assistance includes “bringing solutions” to the 2014


Climate Summit that the UN Secre- tary-General will host in New York on Sep. 23.


However, many non-governmen-


tal organisations regard this Summit as a gathering where world leaders will once again be “fiddling with flimsy pledges instead of committing


to


binding carbon reductions”, according to environmental group Friends of the Earth.


“A parade of leaders trying to


make themselves look good does not bring us any closer to the real action we need to address the climate crisis. This one-day Summit will not deliver any substantial action in the fight against


climate change,” said “World leaders are Dipti


Bhatnagar, climate justice and energy coordinator for Friends of the Earth International (FoEI).


falling far CLIMATE CHANGE PAGE 5


might be accidentally — or not-so-accidentally, in some cases — disclosing sensitive information about your tax returns.


An audit General


this week by the Treasury Inspector


released for Tax


NO BIG DEAL: The IRS says accidental disclosures of taxpayers’ private information on 21 percent of FOIA requests isn’t something to be worried about.


Administration, the IRS’ watchdog, found the IRS didn’t always redact personal information when releasing tax forms sought by Freedom Of Information Act requests. In more than 21 percent of FOIA responses reviewed by auditors, the


The Austan Goolsbee, former IRS improperly


disclosed information about individual taxpayers that should have been kept private.


information disclosed in


the FOIA requests included personal taxpayer identification numbers and other private information, according to auditors.


Officials at the IRS told auditors


the accidental disclosures were the results of “oversights” by caseworkers and management.


According to the IRS’ response


to the audit, those “unfortunate and inadvertent” disclosures didn’t contain any sensitive information that could be misused.


“The taxpayers in


impact to the IRS and question was minimal


based upon what was released and to whom. The IRS recognizes the importance


of providing accurate


responses and is taking steps to strengthen our management and quality controls to avoid future inadvertent disclosures,” wrote Mary Howard, IRS director of privacy and disclosures.


information


But even if there was no sensitive revealed,


it’s another


troubling sign that gives taxpayers reason to be worried about the IRS’ ability to maintain private information.


The new audit comes on the heels of revelations the IRS has intentionally disclosed


information about


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high-profile taxpayers — directly to the White House.


chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, apparently obtained in 2010 private information about the tax returns of David and Charles Koch, the wealthy brothers who support a variety of libertarian political causes.


Although the Treasury Inspector


General for Tax Administration launched an investigation into how the White House got that information, the report was never made public.


Now, it might have to be.


A federal judge ruled this week that records of the investigation must be turned over to Cause of Action, a watchdog group seeking the secret report.


attorneys


In a funny bit of circular logic, for the


government had


argued in court they were forbidden from disclosing the report because it might violate taxpayers’ privacy — despite the fact those same taxpayers’ privacy had already been breached, the reason the investigation was done in the first place.


“The court has ruled that the


federal government cannot hide behind confidentiality laws to prevent Americans from knowing if our president has gained unauthorized access to their tax information,” said Dan Epstein, executive director


of


Cause of Action. The IRS says it’s conducting


training with the goal of eliminating accidental


private information.


Whether the leaks to the White House in 2010 were accidents or on purpose, we might soon have some answers.


disclosures of taxpayers’


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