Energy

Refinery margins have been an ally at the gas pump

October 20, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Kansas City Star (Missouri)</p> <p>Industry critics say that refinery capacity over the years has not kept up with demand, and that gives oil companies the power to profit even more handsomely when demand rises. "Those record prices in the spring weren't tied to the price of crude oil," said Judy Dugan, research director for The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights. "The key factor is what amount of refining profit the oil companies are willing to seek and for what reasons."</p>

Oil prices soar — but why?

October 18, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota)</p> <p>Oil industry critics say that refiner manipulation is to blame. "These companies control the maintenance, the output, the expansions. There is a lot of limitation (in generating supplies) that is deliberate in refineries, and they were able to drive up profits to levels that were close to a dollar a gallon for finished gasoline" earlier this year, said Judy Dugan, research director for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Los Angeles, a consumer group that clashes frequently with Big Oil. "Americans will pay $3 a gallon for gasoline, but if they were getting the margins they were getting this spring, gas would be over $4 a gallon, and you'd see people bring torches to the Capitol!"</p>

Two Faces on the Car Tax

October 17, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<font face="Verdana,helvetica,Arial"></font><!-- body text starts --><!-- startbodytext --> <font face="verdana,sans-serif" size="2">Just because Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed into law AB118, an oil-friendly bill disguised as...</font>

Shell sees biofuel in future

October 17, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Oakland Tribune (California)</p> <p>Hofmeister acknowledged that the price charged by oil companies such as Shell to retailers would ultimately figure into the price paid by consumers. Jamie Court, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, said gasoline costs are high in part because oil companies withhold supply from the market to drive prices up.</p>

Fat Wallets Win Again

October 15, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<font face="verdana,sans-serif" size="2">A rumor briefly swirled yesterday that Gov. Schwarzenegger would veto a deceptive "biofuel development" bill pushed with the full force of Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez. That...</font>

Chevron Teaches Big Brands What Not to Do

October 15, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">AdWeek Magazine</p> <p>Jamie Court on the Huffingon Post, wrote, "Chevron's latest advertising campaign is a classic study in how large rogue corporations try to show themselves as having a soul and human meaning." Not surprisingly, the environmental activist crowd had a field day. A column in The Daily KOS (with 600,000 visitors a day) took the opportunity -- while bashing the Chevron ads -- to remind people of the anti-SUV messages secreted in the user-generated ads for the Chevy Tahoe and share some of those videos, which the oil and auto companies no doubt wish would just go away.</p>

Assembly speaker lives with fundraiser in LA penthouse

October 12, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Associated Press</p> <p>Jamie Court of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a Santa Monica-based advocacy group, said Núñez's independence could be jeopardized because of his roommate's ties to corporations, unions and other contributors that finance the speaker's political ventures. "It's outrageous," Court said. "If you are living with the point person for every major donor in the state, your so-called residence really turns into a back-room meeting place."</p>

Assembly leader hit for lavish spending

October 6, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">San Jose Mercury News (California)</p> <p>"Even if it's all legitimate public business, following the letter of the law, he's clearly enriching himself by flying around the world with special interest lobbyist money," said Jamie Court, founder of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. "And every time he takes a step toward helping the industry, the connections become more apparent. The real issue is: How does this type of lavish living on his contributors' credit cards affect the health care debate? He's clearly living high on his contributors' dime. Yet, he claims he's for the people."</p>

Retail dealers once opposed ‘hot fuel,’ but now they fight to keep it

October 6, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Kansas City Star</p> <p>It's a striking case of wanting it both ways, said Judy Dugan, research director for The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, in Santa Monica, Calif. What was fair for the dealers should be fair for consumers, Dugan said. "The only people denied fairness are motorists buying fuel in the U.S.," she said.</p>

Protesters see deal with BP as Big Oil’s Trojan horse for Cal

October 5, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE</p> <p>"UC Berkeley is becoming an extension campus of Big Oil U," John Simpson of the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights said at the protest. Most of the demonstrators, wearing "I didn't enroll in UC-BP" T-shirts, appeared to be UC students. They say the university's research agenda is being set by corporate interests.</p>

Consumer Group Blasts Chevron’s New Ad Campaign

October 2, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">CSNews.com</p> <p>After the debut of Chevron's $15 million "Power of Human Energy" ad campaign -- which aims at engaging discussion on energy issues and launched on a two-and-a-half minute spot on CBS' 60 Minutes -- the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) lambasted the company, calling its efforts a "gauzy, Hollywood-slick" way for a strategy to keep profits high while rejecting a commitment to the future of renewable energy, the organization stated.</p>

Stanford University on Boston Legal

September 27, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">San Jose Mercury News (California)</p> <p>"I don't know what the people at Stanford would be thinking about it, but I think it's wonderful that one of the premiere vehicles of popular culture clearly understands the serious issues at stake when you're talking about corporate financing of universities," said John M. Simpson, consumer advocate for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica.</p>