This process of interaction and mutual influence among various groups within a society -- the public, business interests, and government -- characterizes a functioning democratic system. Yet such effective interaction is impossible without the free exchange of full and accurate information that can form the basis of individual and collective changes in behavior. Access to information -- in the context of legal and social structures that are conducive to constructive change -- thus fuels the democratic process, in environmental protection as in other aspects of self-government....
