Energy

Fuel costs set records

April 18, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Oakland Tribune</p> <p>The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a consumer watchdog group based in Santa Monica, sees it differently. "The spread between gas prices and crude costs is greater than it has been for a very long time," said Jamie Court, the group's president. "There's no explanation other than price gouging."</p>

Rising gas prices do little to dent driving habits:

April 18, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Report shows fuel consumption is actually higher now than last year</h3><p class="source">The Houston Chronicle (Texas)</p> <p>Americans just seem more conditioned -- and maybe more resigned -- to paying higher gas prices than they were in 2005 and 2006, said Judy Dugan, research director of the Web site <a href="http://www.oilwatchdog.org">www.oilwatchdog.org</a>. The site is a project of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a consumer group based in Santa Monica, Calif.</p>

Faculty Senate Nears Showdown Over UC-BP Pact

April 18, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Berkeley Daily Planet (California)</p> <p>Release of the documents sparked a sharp April 12 letter from John M. Simpson of the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights to Chancellor Robert Birgeneau. Simpson charged that some of the scientists listed as participants were opponents of the deal and "were shocked to discover that their names and resumes were included," and accused Birgeneau of a "fundamental mischaracterization" in describing the grant process as open.</p>

Edison has plan to give away fluorescent bulbs

April 13, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Ventura County Star (California)</p> <p>It's a good, civic-minded, energy-saving action, but the wrong payment method, said Judy Dugan, research director for the Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights in Santa Monica. "It would be a terrific idea, absolutely smashing -- if shareholders were to pay for this," she said. "For Edison to decide unilaterally to do this, and make rate payers pay for it, tarnishes the idea."</p>

Gas price gouging becomes ever more obvious

April 13, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">San Gabriel Valley Tribune (California)</p> <p>This number means that while oil companies continue to insist there's a direct link between what they pay for crude oil and what they charge for gasoline, that connection has been altered, stretched or eliminated altogether during the last three years. "These figures show that gasoline prices are not about the price of oil, but about maximizing the already obscene profits of oil companies and their refiners," said Judy Dugan, research director for the consumer advocate Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.</p>

Stanford’s deal with Exxon Mobil raised concerns

April 9, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Sacramento Bee (California)</p> <p>The Stanford deal was controversial from the start, but one aspect recently captured headlines. The San Jose Mercury News reported March 11 that Steve Bing -- a movie producer and environmentalist -- was withdrawing a $2.5 million donation to Stanford and all future donations. (Bing had already donated $22.5 million to the school.) Why? Because Exxon Mobil has exploited its close relationship with Stanford in ads -- on TV and in print -- that seek to portray the company as a "green" company.</p>

Officials’ overseas trips raise eyebrows;

April 6, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Foundation skirts gift limits, critics say</h3><p class="source">The San Diego Union-Tribune</p> <p>One watchdog group has demanded that Kehoe and Levine disclose details of the trip immediately. Carmen Balber of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights wrote to Kehoe that it was with "great concern that we learned of your participation in a study trip to a foreign country with the very companies you are charged with overseeing."</p>

Group wants details of trip:

April 5, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Expense-paid Japan travel for lawmakers, regulators bothers consumer advocates</h3><p class="source">Sacramento Bee (California)</p> <p>"It was with great concern that we learned of your participation in a 'study trip' to a foreign country with the very companies you are charged with overseeing," wrote Carmen Balber of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, in letters to Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, and Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego.</p>

State officials’ free junket to Japan with execs raises brows

April 3, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Sacramento Bee (California)</p> <p>"What makes this trip so particularly egregious is that the corporations are focusing on the exact levers of power in hosting this junket for the state's top utility cops," said Doug Heller of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a consumer-advocacy group. "If you had to identify the people with the most responsibility over utility issues in the state, they've brought the two in the Legislature and 40 percent of the Public Utilities Commission."</p>

Gasoline price up 9.7 cents in U.S.;

April 3, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>California's drivers continue to pay more at the pump than motorists in other states.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>"The oil companies continue to frame this as a matter of supply and demand, but what they don't talk about is that they control the supply," said Judy Dugan, a spokeswoman for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica. "That would be fine if they were selling Tickle Me Elmo dolls because no one has to buy them. But gasoline is something that no Californian with a job or a family can do without."</p>

STRETCHED TO THE LIMIT

April 1, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Oakland Tribune</p> <p>Consumer advocate Jamie Court focused on legislative solutions. "California needs to regulate supply and force oil companies to run their refineries full speed and sustain adequate levels of inventory," Court said. "Either the Legislature has to pass such a law or the people have to enact it at the ballot box."</p>

Could $4 gas be on the way?

March 31, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Oakland Tribune</p> <p>Jamie Court, president of consumer advocacy group the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, was even more pessimistic. "We have record San Francisco Bay Area prices in March, which means by summer we are heading toward $4 a gallon, if no one intervenes," Court said.</p>