Energy

LA TIMES INVESTIGATION – Toxic Waste Watchdog Can Be Glacially Slow

December 27, 2013  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p><strong><em>The California Department of Toxic Substances Control is supposed to use regulations, fines and the threat of legal action to protect the environment. But its oversight is often ineffectual.</em></strong></p> <p><br /> One summer Saturday in the Bay Area city of Richmond, nitric acid leaked from a tank at a metal plating company, forming a toxic cloud that floated over a neighborhood of small houses and stucco apartments.</p>

Environmental Advocate Claims DTSC Trying To Make Wildomar Investigation ‘Disappear’

December 13, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>After testing soil, soil gas and groundwater samples from specific locations within the allegedly toxic housing tract of Autumnwood in Wildomar, <a href="http://lakeelsinore-wildomar.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/state-testing-finds-wildomar-neighborhood-is-not-contaminated">officials with California Environmental Protection Agency’s Department of Toxic Substances Control announced preliminary findings this week that claim the neighborhood is safe.</a></p> <p>But the release of that data has drawn sharp criticism from some.</p>

Op-Ed Commentary: Raise The Cap On Medical Malpractice Damages

October 28, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<div id="text-pages"> <div class="page" style="display: block;"> <p>The following Op-Ed Commentary was <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Raise-the-cap-on-medical-malpractice-damages-4930864.php">published in the San Francisco Chronicle on Mon., Oct. 29th, 2013</a>.</p>

California Becomes First In The Nation To Propose Chromium-6 Safe Water Limit

August 22, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>California became the first state in the nation on Thursday to propose a safe-water limit on cancer-causing chromium-6, made famous in the film “Erin Brockovich.”</p>

Fracking Foe Blasts Legislative Aides for Energy Company Holdings

August 8, 2013  ·  Daniel Palay

<p>SACRAMENTO -- As a showdown nears on legislation that would regulate hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in California, one prominent activist is criticizing four aides to Assembly Speaker John Perez (D-Los Angeles) for their holdings in energy company stocks.</p> <p>Fracking is a controversial process that involves injecting water and chemicals into the ground to break up rock and increase production of oil and natural gas. Opponents say fracking fouls groundwater, pollutes the air and may raise the risk of earthquakes.</p>

Medical Malpractice Issue Again Hits California Capitol

August 4, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>One of the Capitol's longest-running battles – over the state's $250,000 cap on pain and suffering damages in medical malpractice lawsuits – is heating up again.</p> <p>Consumer Attorneys of California, whose members press malpractice suits, wants the Legislature to lift the cap or repeal it.</p>

Battle Lines Drawn In Fight To Raise Malpractice Awards

July 25, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p><strong>The fight to lift the 40-year-old cap on pain and suffering damages is headed for voters, unless the Legislature can help find a compromise. But that seems unlikely.</strong></p>

Sacramento Bee Op-Ed: Another View: Toxic Waste Watchdog Rewards Serial Polluter

July 21, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>The state's top toxics regulator just pulled a fast one on a farming community suffering birth defects and infant deaths.</p> <p>The Department of Toxic Substances Control signaled it would grant a serial toxic polluter – Chemical Waste Management – a permit to expand its operations greatly at the controversial Kettleman City hazardous waste dump.</p>

Report Says Keystone XL Will Increase Gas Prices

July 18, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>YORK -- The Keystone XL pipeline will raise gasoline prices in the United States, hiking prices at the pump 20 to 40 cents per gallon in the Midwest, with no long-term economic benefit to the U.S. economy, says a new report by Consumer Watchdog.</p> <p>The independent agency’s report, released this week, concluded that the “Midwest’s gas prices could increase anywhere from 20 to 40 cents per gallon if the Keystone XL goes through.”</p> <p>The Watchdog report found that:</p>

Watchdog Group: Pipeline Will Boost Midwest Gas Prices

July 16, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Consumer Watchdog upped the ante on Tuesday on previous claims that construction of the Keystone XL pipeline will drive up the cost of gasoline in Nebraska and the rest of the Midwest.</p> <p>Price increases of 25-40 cents are likely if the pipeline is built between oil deposits in Alberta and refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast, warned the nonprofit public interest group in a new report that also called the controversial project “an oil industry cash machine.”</p>

Keystone Pipeline May Add 40 Cents To Midwest Gas Prices, Report Says

July 16, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>The fiercely debated Keystone XL pipeline could raise gasoline prices in the Midwest by as much as 40 cents a gallon, according to a new report by Consumer Watchdog.</p> <p>That’s because the pipeline would allow oil companies in Canada to export crude oil to a range of markets in the U.S. and abroad, leading to possible increases in the prices paid in areas that are already heavily dependent on that oil, according to the Santa Monica consumer group’s report released Tuesday.</p>

New Report Confirms Keystone XL Boosts Exports to China and Midwest Gasoline Price

July 16, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Consumer Watchdog <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/newsrelease/consumer-watchdog-report-shows-keystone-xl-raises-american-gas-prices">posts a new report</a> confirming pretty much everything I've told you about the Keystone XL pipeline: it will send North American tar sands oil overseas, raise our oil prices, and boost Big Oil profits at our expense.</p>