Cody Rosenfield

Consumer Watchdog agrees with Supervisor David Campos that corporate influence on our laws has reached an unhealthy level.

In fact, our public-interest group was behind Proposition J, a San Francisco ballot initiative enacting strong public-ethics measures in 2000.

Unfortunately, the Board of Supervisors subsequently eviscerated its protections, which required that no gift, job or dollars could flow to a public official from an interest group the official has benefited.

Santa Monica, CA --- California drivers paid $1 billion extra at the pump in March, when compared to the national average gas price charged to U.S. drivers, according to an analysis of the latest government data by Consumer Watchdog.

The nonprofit consumer group said refiners continued to reap a windfall in the wake of refinery shutdowns in February, driving prices at the pump artificially high, a situation exacerbated by low gasoline inventories in the state.  

Santa Monica, CA—California refinery shutdowns and slowdowns are boosting refinery profit margins by as much as 72 percent, according to a key indicator called “crack spreads,” Consumer Watchdog said today.

Crack spreads represent the price difference between what refineries pay per barrel of crude oil and what they charge for the products they make out of it.  These spreads have skyrocketed with the spike in gasoline prices following refinery shutdowns. The spreads are an early indicator of a windfall for refineries.

Four years ago, after an avalanche of complaints about Hyundai’s Elantra’s inflated mileage, Consumer Watchdog wrote the EPA about the problems with trusting automakers to self-test their MPG claims. Yesterday, the EPA toughened its testing procedures for the first time in a decade.