Energy

Consumer Group Calls for Investigation of Refinery Shutdown in Martinez

February 6, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>A consumer group is urging state officials to investigate Tesoro’s decision to close its refinery in Martinez while steelworkers at the plant participate in a national strike.</p> <p>Liza Tucker, a consumer advocate with Consumer Watchdog, said taking the Golden Eagle plant offline will cut California’s crude oil refining capacity by 8 percent, resulting in higher prices at the pump.</p>

FCC Urged To Impose Privacy Rules On Broadband Providers

January 26, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Advocacy group Consumer Watchdog is telling the Federal Communications Commission that new broadband regulations should include privacy obligations.</p> <p>"If consumers believe that their broadband provider substantially threatens their privacy, they are less likely to use the Internet,” the group says in a filing submitted to the FCC today.</p>

Will State Officials Racing For Boxer’s Seat Be Bold or Weaker?

January 8, 2015  ·  Jamie Court

<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family: tahoma,geneva,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The </span><a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/barbara-boxer-retires-114076.html" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em;">announcement by Senator Boxer</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, a true champion of the underdog (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHrH5vn-6kw">watch her Rage for Justice speech</a>), that she will not run for the Senate in 2016 will likely make a lot of other state officials rethink how they do their jobs.

No Justice, No Peace

December 24, 2014  ·  ConsumerWatchdog

<p><a _fcksavedurl="https://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/6563/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=4651&killorg=True" href="https://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/6563/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=4651&killorg=True"><img _fcksavedurl="http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/6563/images/ProtestersCWD.png" align="right" alt="" height="180" src="http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/6563/images/ProtestersCWD.png" width="352" /></a></p>

Will State Gas Prices Soar In Protest Of 2015 Environmental Law?

December 22, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Jamie Court calls it the “January surprise.”</p> <p>Court, president of the Consumer Watchdog nonprofit, is convinced oil companies may try to artificially inflate California’s gasoline prices in January.</p>

Santa Monica Consumer Watchdog Warns Against Gas Price Increase

December 16, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p><span class="timesDatelineBlack">December 16, 2014</span>--Santa Monica-based Consumer Watchdog on Monday released a report warning that oil industry officials plan to use “artificially inflated” gas prices, bogus refinery slowdowns and other tactics in a bid to derail the state’s new climate protection measures set to go into effect next month.</p>

California Officials Ready to Spank Oil Companies

December 16, 2014  ·  Jamie Court

<p>I have been watching oil companies get away with price gouging for so many years that it was refreshing to see California's top political leaders let the oil companies know that they're going to be on the hot seat if they try to undermine California's landmark environmental laws taking effect in January.</p> <p>The admonitions to Big Oil came at NextGen Climate America's Leadership <a href="http://sacb.ee/25Lp" target="_hplink" rel="noopener">Summit</a> in Oakland on Monday from Governor Jerry Brown, Assembly Speaker Tony Atkins and Senate leader Kevin De Leon.</p>

Pump Jacking California’s Climate Protection: The Threat Of Oil Industry Influence & Market Manipulation

December 15, 2014  ·  Liza Tucker

Internal documents obtained from the oil industry’s lobbying arm, the Western States Petroleum Association, show that the companies have made stopping California’s landmark climate change...

Reports: EU Taking First Step Towards Breaking Up Google

November 21, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<section class="page"> <p><span class="itemprop="articleBody">Members of the European Parliament are readying a motion calling for the break-up of Google, by separating its search engine functionality from other commercial services, according to news reports.</span></p>

California Lawmakers’ Campaign Credit-Card Spending Often Lacks Disclosure, Sacramento Bee Review Finds

November 1, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<div id="content-body-713359-3515410"> <p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-10907" alt="" class="right" src="http://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/images_credit_card_graphic_1102.jpg" style="width: 350px; height: 664px; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px; float: right;" width="633" height="1200" />California lawmakers racked up more than $4 million in campaign credit-card charges during the first 18 months of this election cycle.</p> <p>Some ate in five-star restaurants and reported holding meetings in nightclubs and an amusement park. They bought fruit baskets and wine as gifts. They went to Las Vegas, Hawaii and international destinations.</p>

Michael Peevey’s Announced Exit Solves Political Problem for Jerry Brown

October 10, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>defended Michael Peevey, the embattled president of the <a class="lingo_link lingo_link_hidden" href="http://topics.sacbee.com/California+Public+Utilities+Commission/" rel="nofollow" style="cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;">California Public Utilities Commission.</a></p>

Google to Search for the Meaning of Health

July 25, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p><em><strong>Google intends to use its powerful algorithms and analytics in the service of a science project to unlock the mystery of what constitutes human health at the baseline level. That is, what is the state of a person's molecular chemistry long before what we recognize as disease kicks in? To achieve that knowledge, Google intends to study the biochemical makeup of volunteer subjects.</strong></em></p>