Interactive Visualizations for A People’s EPA

Access

https://apeoplesepa.org/home/interactive

Timeline

July 2021 — February 2022

Description

This project was designed in collaboration with EDGI, the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative.

A People’s EPA (APE) is a project of the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI) that provides public resources for understanding the history, function, and purpose of the Environmental Protection Agency. APE is designed to make data about the agency more publicly accessible and provide opportunities for broader civic engagement with the work the agency conducts, demystifying the agency’s function while offering tools for monitoring governmental accountability.

In collaboration with Leif Fredrickson and Jessica Varner, co-curators of APE, I designed and engineered a series of interactive exploratory data visualizations that allow users to examine the agency’s history of enforcement of environmental policy, including the history of EPA cleanup and compliance costs, fines levied against violations in criminal and civil cases, and inspections and civil/criminal cases initiated by the EPA. In addition, this series includes a visualization investigating the use of climate- and energy-related language in official EPA documents over time, including language in news releases, budget documents, and strategic planning documents.