Today marks an exciting development in the war on earmarks. A diverse coalition of groups and websites dedicated to open government have launched an effort to get YOU involved in the process of tracking and researching the 1,867 pork projects hidden in the 2007 Labor-HHS appropriations bill awaiting approval in the U.S. House.

Taking part in the project are Human Events Online, the Sunlight Foundation, Citizens Against Government Waste, Porkbusters.com, Heritage Foundation, Club for Growth, Townhall.com, the Washington Examiner, and Tapscott's Copy Desk blog.

Why are we asking YOU to help? Our coalition thinks the most effective way to expose the earmarks in this bill is for YOU to research what pork is headed to YOUR district. However, you don't have to stop there. We need as much help as you're willing to offer in order to figure out who secured these earmarks and what relationship that congressman has with the group(s) benefiting from it.

Here's what Ellen Miller, executive director of the Sunlight Foundation, had to say about the project:

The details of Congressional earmarks are shrouded in secrecy, because there are so few rules requiring Congress to disclose details of them. Not even the names of all the lawmakers who inserted various earmarks are known. Getting citizens involved in researching the who, what, when, and how of them is just one way to strengthen the relationship that people have with their Members of Congress, by bringing about more openness. Mashing the earmark database with a Google map provides a real simple way to present the information so that everyone can understand it.

You can get started by visiting the Washington Examiner, which has a detailed list of the earmarks sorted by state.

The Sunlight Foundation has more information its website, and N.Z. Bear at Porkbusters.org has promised a more sophisticated database, which should go live later today.

UPDATE -- 10:18 a.m.: A few more supporters have signed on with endorsements. Tim Chapman of the Heritage Foundation and Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit offers their praise for the project.