Energy

A costly hitch in the pipeline;

August 8, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Corrosion will force lengthy shutdown in Alaska; more pain at the pump seen as early as this week</h3><p class="source">The San Diego Union-Tribune</p> <p>The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights said BP's maintenance practices underscore the industry's failure to put money back into its businesses, despite record profits. "Drivers will pay through the nose for this very preventable emergency," said Judy Dugan, research director for the Santa Monica group.</p>

Angelides puts money on public election finance;

August 4, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Support could rile candidate's major union contributors</h3><p class="source">THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE</p> <p>Jamie Court, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, also stoked the flames earlier this week when he suggested that "only a genuine campaign finance overhaul like Prop. 89 could force big labor and big business onto the same team, because no cash-rich special interest will be able to buy the Legislature if Prop. 89 passes.''</p>

Angelides endorses campaign-finance reform

August 3, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The San Jose Mercury News (California)</p> <p>The initiative (Prop 89) is supported by the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, which has criticized both Republicans and Democrats for taking special interest money. "The real question is will Gov. Schwarzenegger join him?" said Jamie Court, president of the Santa Monica-based foundation. "This is exactly what Arnold Schwarzenegger said he wanted to do -- to clean up corruption and end the backroom deals."</p>

Chevron quarterly profit: $4.4 billion;

July 29, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Falling below Wall Street's expectations, San Ramon oil company posts record results that spur outcry from consumer advocates</h3><p class="source">THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE</p> <p>Judy Dugan, research director for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, saw the refinery margins as evidence of gouging. "There is no reason, aside from greed, for them to be making this kind of money on the backs of California motorists," she said. </p>

TECH PLAYERS PLAY POLITICS:

July 29, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>DEEP POCKETS AIMED AT EDUCATION, ENERGY</h3><p class="source">The San Jose Mercury News (California)</p> <p>Consumer activist Jamie Court said while at first he suspected a power grab by supporters of the alternative energy measure, he is convinced it "advances the public benefit by developing an alternative to gasoline." His Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights has signed the proponent's ballot statement. But, he said, valley backers are going to find themselves in an underdog position facing an oil industry with even deeper pockets than their own. Chevron alone has contributed nearly $4 million to the opposition campaign.</p>

Chevron’s Net Income Jumps 18%;

July 29, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Persistently high oil and gasoline prices give the company another record quarter. But its shares slip because the results miss forecasts.</h3><p class="source">The Los Angeles Times</p> <p>Chevron's earnings top off a week of strong profit reports from five of the world's six largest publicly traded oil companies -- all reaping the rewards of the persistently high pump prices that are crimping family budgets across the country. That fact was top-of-mind for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. The Santa Monica-based consumer advocacy group noted that Chevron's results "capped an orgy of oil-company record profits" that should "fuel the ire of U.S. motorists."</p>

Earnings stay hefty for ExxonMobil, Shell;

July 28, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Energy giants confront political implications</h3><p class="source">The Houston Chronicle</p> <p>"These oil giants are profiting once from the sale of crude oil at record prices and again from refining profits of 43 cents per gallon of gasoline, an amount for which there is no possible justification," Judy Dugan, the foundation's research director, said in a prepared statement. "Profits at this level are pure greed and the real explanation for outrageous prices at the pump."</p>

Sparks fly as ExxonMobil profit tops 10 billion dollars

July 27, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Agence France Presse</p> <p>The California-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights said sky-high fuel prices had nothing to do with oft-cited factors such as Middle East unrest or instability in Nigeria. "Refining profits at this level are pure greed and the real explanation for outrageous prices at the pump," said the FTCR's Judy Dugan.</p>

Presto Change-o

July 27, 2006  ·  Carmen Balber

<p> <font face="verdana,sans-serif" size="2">Assembly Speaker Núñez's AB 32 would be the first law in the nation to <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-greenhouse26jun26,1,2929733.story">limit...</a> </font> </p>

Big Oil lobbyists stall bills in Legislature that industry opposes

July 15, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE</p> <p>"Democrats are supposed to care about people who are being forced to choose between filling up their cars and having more food on the table," said Jamie Court, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica. "It is insane that in a state where Democrats control both houses of the Legislature, they can't attack this issue," he said. "The only reason there has not been more action is that politicians are scared to take them on."</p>

Declining gas prices may soon be memory;

July 4, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>S.D. average for regular up 6 cents since Friday</h3><p class="source">The San Diego Union-Tribune</p> <p>FTCR in Santa Monica said crude oil prices had little to do with the recent runup. Analyzing data reported by the state energy commission, the foundation said profits for the refining sector of the petroleum industry appear to have soared at the expense of California's motorists. The commission has reported that California refinery costs and profits per gallon have more than doubled since January, rising from 30 cents per gallon during the first week of this year to 71 cents per gallon last week.</p>

Fall Ballot Is a $46-Billion Question;

June 29, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Five bond measures and four tax-hike efforts contribute to the record tally. The issues are expected to complicate political alliances.</h3><p class="source">The Los Angeles Times</p> <p>Jamie Court, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, which is supporting the (clean money) initiative, said outside events may heighten its chances. "To the degree that corruption and the power of cash-rich lobbyists stay in the headlines, that helps," he said.</p>