Liza Tucker is a consumer advocate for Consumer Watchdog, following everything from oil and gas to the regulation of toxic substances in the state of California. She comes to us from Marketplace, the largest U.S. broadcast show on business and economics heard by ten million listeners each week on 400 radio stations. Liza worked at this public radio show for a decade, first as Commentary Editor and then as Senior Editor for both Washington and Sustainability News. At Marketplace, Liza produced and edited several special feature series from who funds Washington think tanks to the BP oil spill. Liza has worked as a journalist, consultant, teacher, and translator.
Prior to moving to Los Angeles, Liza spent a few years in Bologna, Italy. She covered business at The Washington Post and later free-lanced her way through the Soviet Union, covering its collapse for Time, Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal. Liza is fluent in Russian and speaks Italian. She taught journalism at Allegheny College. She also served as a consultant to the MacArthur Foundation awarding individual grants in the areas of independent media, women’s rights, and legal reform, and to US AID on how to support independent media in Ukraine. She translated Alexandra’s letters to Nicholas for The Fall of the Romanovs, published by Yale University Press. She traveled through Europe in 2009 as a German Marshall Fund Fellow studying German, French, Danish, and British approaches to sustainability. She holds a B.A. from Oberlin College and an M.F.A. in poetry from Columbia University’s School of the Arts.
Governor Jerry Brown Slams Trump Administration For Putting Interests Of Big Oil Ahead of Clean Air, Even As He Does The Same Thing In...
Santa Monica, CA— California Governor Jerry Brown has put the interests of Big Oil first in California though he criticized Trump’s EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt for the same thing as he made his way to Washington this week, Consumer Watchdog said today. In a letter, Brown wrote to Pruitt, “Once again, you’ve put the interests of Big Oil ahead of clean air and politics ahead of science.”
LADWP Customer Bill Of Rights Nothing But Paper Without Overhaul Of Utility Bureaucracy And Independent Ratepayer Voice To Hold DWP Accountable
Santa Monica, CA -- The LADWP’s pledge to give customers a bill of rights is a step forward, but the LADWP remains in need of a major bureaucratic overhaul, Consumer Watchdog said today.
Consumer Watchdog Tells LA Mayor That Ratepayers Should Be Paid Interest On Money DWP Owes in Overbilling Scandal And Calls For Transparency About DWP...
Santa Monica, CA -- Consumer Watchdog wrote Mayor Eric Garcetti today that last-minute revisions to a DWP ratepayer overbilling settlement now boost attorneys’ fees 46 percent to $19 million from $13 million, but shortchange ratepayers who should be paid interest on refunds owed them for three years.
LA Voters Kill Measure RRR; Back Real Reform For DWP Rather Than More Self-Dealing
Santa Monica, CA — Angelenos who voted down Measure RRR delivered the message to the largest municipal utility in the country that they will not stand for the dysfunctional Department of Water & Power policing itself, Consumer Watchdog said today.
7 TV News Stations Have Aired No Coverage of Drug Price Reform Initiative Prop 61, Despite Airing Nearly $1.7 Million in Anti-61 Advertising
Santa Monica, CA — Seven California news stations have not aired a single story about Proposition 61 to educate voters on the measure that would cap state prescription drug prices, despite receiving nearly $1.7 million in ad money from the pharmaceutical industry’s record-breaking $109 million No campaign. Other California TV stations have aired an average one to three news reports on Proposition 61 during the last month.
Who’s Behind The Props? New Voter PSA Makes Sense of California’s 17 Ballot Propositions
SANTA MONICA, CA — With Election Day rapidly approaching, a new animated short can help Californians make informed decisions when they vote on the seventeen statewide propositions on the ballot.
Millennials Have Power to Make Real Change – Despite Disenchantment With Presidential Race – By Voting On This Year’s California Ballot Propositions
Santa Monica, CA — Even students disenchanted with the presidential race could decide real and pressing issues in this year’s election if they turn out to vote on California’s 17 ballot propositions, Consumer Watchdog said today.
Sunlight On Public Utility Commission Agreement Dies, Brown’s Fingerprints On Bills’ Corpses
Santa Monica, CA -- Yesterday, as a state court ruled Governor Brown’s emails in a utility scandal could not be made public because the Superior Court had no jurisdiction, Brown reneged on an agreement made this summer to create such court review. AB 2903 and SB 1017 mysteriously died on the last night of session with objections from PUC President Michael Picker, a former Brown aide, being the public face of the hol
SoCalGas and California Regulators Cry Wolf In Report Claiming Aliso Canyon Needed To Meet Winter Peak Demand, Says Consumer Watchdog and Food & Water...
State-Funded Report Backing Return To Electricity Deregulation’s Western Grid Concept Was Written By Utility Consultant And Sacrifices Ratepayers For Investors
Santa Monica, CA -- A report released today by California’s electric grid manager, the California Independent System Operator, supports utilizing a 1999 California law from the electricity deregulation era to create a Western grid. Consumer Watchdog warned it would once again commoditize electricity, divorce the costs of generation from the needs of ratepayers, and threaten consumers with higher costs to benefit in
Consumer Watchdog Applauds Governor Brown For $176.6 Million Cleanup Of East Los Angeles
Santa Monica, CA -- Governor Brown’s announcement today that the state will spend $176.6 million to clean up a wide swath of East Los Angeles in the wake of Exide Technologies’ decades-long lead contamination is a major victory for the people who live near the shuttered facility, Consumer Watchdog said today.
Consumer Watchdog Demands Full Investigation by Senate Leader of Racist Emails Written By Staffer In Key Role On Cleanups At Top Toxics Agency
Santa Monica, CA — Consumer Watchdog today urged Senate pro Tempore Kevin de Leon to fully disclose racist emails written by scientists and other staff at the Department of Toxic Substances Control and to conduct a full investigation into the matter.
Consumer Watchdog Asks California Attorney General and US Attorneys to Investigate Oil Industry for Mail Fraud in Effort to Defeat Climate Change Legislation
SANTA MONICA, CA – Consumer Watchdog today asked the California Attorney General and US Attorneys to investigate the oil industry for mail fraud when its trade association sent out a mass mailing this week with a fraudulent web site address or URL attacking climate change legislation. The mailer deceived the recipients about the oil industry’s funding of the mailer.
Consumer Watchdog Asks NASA to End Special Drone Testing Deal With Google Giving Internet Giant Unfair Advantage Over Competitors At Taxpayer Expense
Santa Monica, CA -- Consumer Watchdog today asked NASA’s Inspector General to end a special NASA-Google deal to test unmanned drones over private land because it gives the Internet giant an unfair market advantage over competitors, and because the benefits to taxpayers are unclear.
Democracy At Work
When the confirmation of California’s top toxics regulator was over, Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de Leon addressed the audience: “You saw democracy working…” But was this really democracy at work?
Consumer Watchdog Says Director of Top Toxics Regulator Should Not Be Confirmed in Wake of Exide Mismanagement, Refusal to House Clean Agency
Santa Monica, CA—The Senate should not confirm Barbara Lee as Director of the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) based on her handling of serial polluter Exide, and lack of action to fundamentally reform the agency, Consumer Watchdog said today.
ALERT: California Gas Prices Up 40 Cents This Week; A Buck Over National Average, Driven By Refiner Shortages and Outages
Santa Monica, CA—The price of a gallon of regular gas in California spiked up another 40 cents this week and now stands at $3.59 a gallon at the pump due to fresh problems refineries have tried to conceal, Consumer Watchdog said today.California Gasoline Prices Spike 28 Cents In One Week, 89 Cents More Than USA
Santa Monica, CA – Consumer Watchdog today said that a price spike of 28 cents per gallon at the pump over the last week was likely caused by a refinery outage or other refinery problems that the public is not privy to, and called on the California Senate to act.
Irwindale City Officials Must Block Hazardous Waste Facility Alongside Santa Fe Dam Recreational Area
Santa Monica, CA—The Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) approved a permit for a hazardous waste facility in violation of Irwindale’s zoning rules, wrote residents and environmental advocates in a letter urging city officials to overturn the decision when the city council meets tomorrow.
Tom Steyer and Consumer Watchdog Call On Legislators To Make Oil Company Executives Answer For February’s $550 Million Gas Price Spike
Santa Monica, CA — Business leader, philanthropist and climate activist Tom Steyer and Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court asked California lawmakers to subpoena oil industry executives to explain why California’s gasoline market is structured for shortages and volatility.
Consumer Watchdog Argues Against PG&E Proposal to Monopolize Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in Central and Northern CA at Ratepayer Expense
Santa Monica, CA—Consumer Watchdog has petitioned the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to reject a PG&E proposal to monopolize electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure on grounds that it will raise costs for ratepayers while stifling innovation. PG&E has proposed to charge ratepayers to install 25,100 EV charging stations, whether or not they are EV drivers.
Consumer Watchdog Calls for Defunding or Major Reform of Top Toxics Regulator in Wake of US Attorney Shutdown of Exide
Santa Monica, CA -- Consumer Watchdog today asked Governor Jerry Brown and top lawmakers to defund the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) or reform it from top to bottom, in the wake of the US Attorney's criminal investigation and closure of Exide Technologies.
Exxon Misrepresents Torrance Refinery Safety Record and Explosion’s Effect on Gas Prices to Lawmakers at Town Hall Hearing, Consumer Watchdog Says
Santa Monica, CA —Exxon misrepresented its safety record at its Torrance refinery to lawmakers at a public hearing at Torrance City Hall last week, suggesting its February 18 explosion and fire was unique, and did not acknowledge how extensively the blast damaged its ability to supply gasoline, Consumer Watchdog said today.