Energy

Exxon Profit Sets Record, Stirs Anger;

January 31, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Its annual and quarterly profit are the highest for any public corporation, but consumers see red.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>On Monday, the California Assembly rejected a windfall profits tax on a 28-43 vote, falling well short of the two-thirds majority required for passage. Jamie Court, president of FTCR, was incensed: "We're in a state that has been price gouged more than the rest of the nation historically, and our Legislature can't even get a simple majority... to say 'no more profiteering.' "</p>

Chevron 4th Qtr. Profit Up 20 Percent to $4.14 Billion

January 29, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Associated Press</p> <p>Consumer activists, though, insist a government crackdown is long overdue. "These aren't just windfall profits; they are hurricane-force profits," said Jamie Court, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a watchdog group that has railed against the oil industry for years.</p>

Residents feel pinch of rising bills;

January 18, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Southwest Gas, California Edison offering discounts based on inability to pay</h3><p class="source">The Daily Press - Victorville (California)</p> <p>Douglas Heller, executive director for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica said greed is at the root of the rate increases. "When people are facing the hard economic choices of the day, when it is particularly stinging to keep our lights on, we are paying extra to cover corporate stupidity and greed."</p>

Gas prices leap into the new year

January 7, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The San Diego Union-Tribune (California)</p> <p>Jamie Court of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica said the petroleum industry eased up on pricing in the wake of the devastating hurricanes on the Gulf Coast, fearing a consumer backlash. But now he said the industry is tightening supplies. "We need better eyes and ears on this industry," Court said.</p>

DWP Pays to Drink Sparkletts;

January 4, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>L.A.'s supplier of tap water accounts for more than a third of the city money spent on the bottled variety.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>"It strikes me as ironic that the city spends money touting the safety of its water to drink but won't drink it themselves," said Doug Heller, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.</p>

Power price shock lingers

December 27, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Daily News of Los Angeles</p> <p>"It's too little too late," said Doug Heller, executive director of the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. "It's like catching the guy who stole 100 bucks from you and requiring him to give you $ 10 of it back. And then the utility company says, 'Oh, by the way, now you owe us $11."</p>

Shell Oil official clarifies remarks to Senate panel

December 14, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Kansas City Star</p> <p>The closing of refineries has been an issue because a lack of refinery capacity can contribute to higher prices for gasoline and other refined products. One of California's senators, Democrat Barbara Boxer, said Hofmeister's admission was another reason to recall him and the other oil executives who were at the November hearing and make them testify under oath.</p>

Shell Oil president retracts statement about Bakersfield, Calif., refinery

December 9, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Bakersfield Californian</p> <p>"They (Shell) knew by keeping this refinery closed they would have been able to charge a dime more a gallon," said Jamie Court of The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica. "This is a case study on what actually happens in the oil industry every day."</p>

Crude tactics

November 22, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Big oil mergers have left the U.S. with fewer refiners and more costly petroleum products.</h3><p class="source">The Daily Deal NewsWeekly</p> <p>"It was a classic example of an oil company's shutdown to artfully drive up the price," says Jamie Court, president of Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a consumer advocacy group based in Santa Monica, Calif., which hired Hamilton to study California's refinery situation.</p>

Report: Storms, refineries blamed for high California gas prices

November 20, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">San Jose Mercury News</p> <p>"The story about gas prices isn't about the local gas stations, but the few mega-refiners who have seen their profits hit record levels while the nation suffers," said Doug Heller, consumer advocate with the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.</p>

California refinery woes fueled post-Katrina spike in gas prices

November 20, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Sacramento Bee (California)</p> <p>"The oil industry intentionally reduced supply in California and around the country," said Doug Heller, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica. Heller cited the commission's findings that reported pipeline exports from California to Arizona and Nevada rose 45 percent during the four weeks after Katrina.</p>

Governor, on rebound, lands in Far East;

November 13, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Emerging China offers market potential for high-tech, agriculture, energy interests</h3><p class="source">THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE</p> <p>Doug Heller of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, the watchdog group that runs the ArnoldWatch Web site, said, "The larger public policy issue is: Arnold Schwarzenegger has six days of travel around China -- not just with people funding his trip, but with people who have funded his entire political career." "Labor is not represented; it's all big business," says Art Pulaski, who heads the California Labor Federation AFL-CIO. </p>