Los Angeles, CA —Fifty-five organizations have sent a letter to Governor Newsom urging him to veto SB 842 (Bradford), legislation that would make it more cumbersome to assess and control price spikes consumers face at the pump during oil refinery maintenance...

Sacramento, CA -- A bill amended 72 hours before the end of the legislative session and passed in the dead of night without debate would undermine California’s new gasoline price gouging law.  SB 842, authored by Steve Bradford, would...

The Santa Susana Field Lab, nestled in the Simi Hills, is about an hour by car from downtown Los Angeles.  It is the scene of experimental nuclear reactor testing and a partial nuclear meltdown in 1959, plutonium production, and...

Supreme Court Action Needed To Protect Hundreds Of Thousands Of Californians From Harm Los Angeles, CA—Public interest groups filed amicus letters with the California Supreme Court seeking review of a decision by the First District Court of Appeal that would...

Los Angeles, CA—The total number of oil drilling permits issued blew past 15,000 since Governor Newsom took office in 2019, while nearly all permits issued in the first six months of 2023 were to fix unproductive wells, not...

Los Angeles, CA—California gasoline prices have dropped significantly and stabilized relative to national gas prices in the wake of the Governor’s call, and enactment of, California’s anti-gouging law, according to an analysis by Consumer Watchdog. “The gubernatorial and legislative...

Los Angeles, CA— Consumer Watchdog has called upon the Governor’s Department of Finance to strike a $500,000 allocation in the legislative-approved budget for the San Francisco “Bottle Bank” mobile recycling program.   “After 15 months of operation, the project has...

Los Angeles, CA—The San Francisco BottleBank bottle deposit return  pilot featuring trucks rotating between supermarket parking lots has burned through over $3.6 million in state grants and services for trucks, labor, consultants, technology, and SF Conservation Corps staff...

SB 556 would have held oil companies presumptively liable for causing cancer, asthma, preterm and high risk births for people living within 3200 ft of an oil well. Sacramento, CA — SB 556, legislation that gives people who live near...

SB 556 — legislation that gives people who live near oil wells and have developed cancer, respiratory illnesses and birth defects the right to hold oil drillers liable for their illnesses — passed the California Senate Judiciary Committee in a 8 to 2 vote. SB 556 will now be referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Los Angeles, CA— Consumer Watchdog released a report today outlining what CalRecycle, the state’s recycling regulator, should do beginning at its public workshop on April 25 to craft new regulations implementing bottle deposit return system reform SB 1013.  This...

New legislation gives people who have developed cancer, respiratory illnesses and birth defects the right to hold oil drillers liable for their illnesses if they live, work, or go to school within 3200 feet of oil drilling and if the company did not use the best technologies to mitigate risk.  

In an appeal before the Court of Appeal in Sacramento to be heard on Monday, the Newsom Administration will be challenged over positions that breach a longstanding agreement to require all radioactive waste from the Santa Susana Field Lab be disposed of at sites licensed and designed for such waste.

The total number of oil drilling permits approved since Governor Gavin Newsom he took office reached nearly 15,000 in the first quarter of 2023, FracTracker Alliance and Consumer Watchdog said today.

For more than two decades, Californians have been plagued by chronic gasoline price spikes and a much greater gap with US gasoline prices than is justified by added taxes and environmental costs.

Legislation backed by Governor Newsom to create a new state watchdog with power to prevent price gouging at the gas pump cleared the California Assembly by a vote of 52 to 19 and is now awaiting the Governor’s signature.

Sacramento, CA -- A landmark measure to rein in skyrocketing California gasoline prices has cleared the California Senate by a vote of 30 to 8.  “This bill puts a watchdog over gasoline price gouging and gives it the teeth...

SBx1 2, the newly amended proposal for a price gouging penalty and oil refiner transparency, passed its first test in the California Senate Utilities, Energy and Commerce Committee

Making California First State In America To Rein In Oil Refiner Greed and Profiteering Los Angeles, CA – Governor Newsom and California legislature leaders have reached a deal to push through a new oil refiner accountability law including a price...

Top executives and insiders at California’s big five oil refiners cashed out $590 million in stock in 2022, according to a review of filings with Securities Exchange Commission by the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog.

This morning the Los Angeles Times published my commentary on why we need more transparency in California’s gas markets. Let's hope the powers that be in Sacramento and Washington listen. The oped follows: Who profits from Southern California’s high...

When the California Senate Energy Committee took on the price gouging penalty for the first time recently, economists with a track record working for the oil industry tried to muddy the waters on the real issues in the debate. Did oil refiners make...

Sacramento, CA – Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court will offer testimony in favor of enacting a price gouging penalty and windfall profits cap on oil refiners at the California Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee today. His presentation, linked here, documents the...

Labor, Working Families Party, progressive and climate justice organizations unite on bill to penalize future gasoline price gouging Sacramento, CA — Over 100 state, local, and national organizations sent a letter calling on the California Legislature to adopt Governor Gavin Newsom’s price...

Los Angeles, CA—PBF Energy today posted an annual profit of $2.9 billion. The five refiners controlling California’s gasoline market --  PBF Energy, Chevron, Marathon Petroleum, Valero, and Phillips 66 – have now reported  a combined 2022 annual profit of $75.4...

San Francisco, CA – Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court offered the following testimony to the Public Utilities Commission on the spike in natural gas prices in Southern California:  Something is clearly wrong with the natural gas market in the...

Los Angeles, CA—Marathon Petroleum made 75 cents in profit per gallon off West Coast drivers in 2022, virtually doubling what it made the year before, strengthening the case for the California legislature to enact a windfall profits penalty....

Total Windfall Profits Rebate Climbs to $3.2 Billion As Fourth Quarter Reports Continue To Roll In Los Angeles, CA—Chevron’s profits report to investors Friday revealed it made 85 cents per gallon profit in California in 2022, more than doubling...

Los Angeles, CA—Chevron reported earnings for the year of $35.5 billion, more than doubling last year's $15.6 billion, with financial data revealing the company also doubled its per gallon profits off consumers on the West Coast, Consumer Watchdog said...

Los Angeles, CA—Valero raked in $11.5 billion in 2022 profits, beating its $930 million for the previous year by a dozen times. However, Governor Newsom’s call for a special session in October to deal with price gouging appears...