Energy

Oil Watchdog: Oops, there’s oil on the water after all *(or not)

September 2, 2010 · Consumer Watchdog

The new oil platform fire or explosion in the Gulf of Mexico looks minor in comparison to the BP spill, but there are sure some loud echoes in how it's being handled. When word first trickled out about Thusday's platform accident off the Louisiana coast, there were swift assurances from the owner that no oil had leaked, and since the platform pumped mostly natural gas, leaks couldn't be a problem anyway.

Consumer Watchdog Praises Attorneys General For Google Probe, Renews Call for Congressional Hearing on Wi-Spy Scandal

July 21, 2010 · Consumer Watchdog

Santa Monica, CA -- Consumer Watchdog today praised a group of 37 state attorneys general for seeking to get to the bottom of the Google Wi-Spy scandal and reiterated its call for the House Energy and Commerce Committee to hold hearings on the issue.

Union Chief Makes Nurses a Political Force

July 11, 2010 · Consumer Watchdog

SUNDAY PROFILE: Rose Ann DeMoro Harvey Rosenfield, founder of Consumer Watchdog in Santa Monica, warned that DeMoro "has no fear. She is a warrior. ... You combine those qualities - knowing how to fight, being unafraid and uncompromising - and you have a unique individual in American politics." Someone who learned that lesson, Rosenfield said, was Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who became a target of nurses' protests in 2005 when he attempted to roll back nurse-patient ratios in the state.

Myriad of Challenges Lie Ahead For CFPB

July 2, 2010 · Consumer Watchdog

Agency must provide outline of authority, merge lending laws Carmen Balber, Washington director of Consumer Watchdog, said the recent credit card law is an opportunity for the new bureau. "One of the big places the agency will start is... to make sure credit card companies are living up to the letter and intent of the law," she said. "I think that's the most obvious place to hit the ground running."

Wrapping up

July 1, 2010 · Consumer Watchdog

As Angelides pounds the gavel and adjourns the hearing, there is one question that is yet to be resolved amongst the Commission: How much of the crisis can be attributed to overarching regulatory deficiencies and how much of it can be attributed...

The Curious Case of Karen Bass

July 1, 2010 · Consumer Watchdog

How a dedicated community organizer becomes an insulated, perk-oriented politician More recently, Bass' staff made the news for taking from oil giant BP lots of free tickets to major sporting and other events in Sacramento. Though it was legal, it left an uneasy feeling that Bass had morphed into just another pol, and more quickly than most. "At the very least," says Doug Heller of Consumer Watchdog of her per diem take, "it's a major loss of perspective over what should have been a natural and obvious bright line for someone like Karen Bass. When you go to Sacramento and live in that insular world for five or six years, clear rules become fuzzy."

Liveblog: Did OTS fail?

July 1, 2010 · Consumer Watchdog

In Session 2 so far, a lot of the questioning has been directed at the structural deficiencies of regulatory agencies. One large revelation has been the way in which many financial firms are able to manipulate and de facto pick...

House and Senate Lawmakers Reach Deal on Financial Reform

June 25, 2010 · Consumer Watchdog

Congress is expected to approve the bill next week, making it the most far-reaching set of financial reforms since the Great Depression. What measures were included or left out of the bill, and will it be enough to reform Wall Street? Guest: Jamie Court, President of Consumer Watchdog and author of "Corporateering: How Corporate Power Steals Your Personal Freedom...And What You Can Do About It"

Liveblog: House on consumer protection

June 22, 2010 · Consumer Watchdog

For a conference process that's more open than any in recent memory, most of these decisions are still being made behind closed doors. But votes in the open will at least make members accountable, especially on consumer protection...

BP’s Ties to Agency Are Long and Complex

May 25, 2010 · Consumer Watchdog

Added John M. Simpson of <a href="../../../">Consumer Watchdog</a>: "From what I’ve seen, the Energy Department’s response has been less than rapid to this <a class="meta-classifier" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/o/oil_spills/gulf_of_mexico_2010/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="More articles about oil spills.">oil spill</a>. This whole thing just underscores that corporate interests have created, over time, these relationships that give them unfair access to policy makers." <a class="meta-per" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/steven_chu/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about Steven Chu."></a>

Corporate Bucks Behind ‘Citizens’ Initiatives In Calif.

May 24, 2010 · Consumer Watchdog

Opponents of Proposition 17 say the measure is really an excuse to raise rates on drivers who’ve let their insurance lapse. Jamie Court, the head of Consumer Watchdog, says, “The people who are most likely to be hit are college students, military personnel stationed domestically on a base where they don’t need a car — anyone who decides the economy is just too tough and they’re just going to put their car in the garage. When they come back into the market, they’re going to be facing surcharges of up to 70 percent in many cases.”

BIOTECH: Key Embryonic Stem Cell Patent Rejected

May 3, 2010 · Consumer Watchdog

Local Researchers Applaud Decision The decision is good news for medical researchers, especially in California, said Jeanne Loring, a prominent stem cell researcher at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla. If the decision stands, researchers won't have to get permission or pay royalties to commercialize their research. Loring has challenged the patent along with two consumer groups; Consumer Watchdog and the Public Patent Foundation.