Energy

Outage Responses Fuel Power Debate

January 8, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Private vs. public energy at center of discussion</h3> <p> That's why Doug Heller, executive director for the Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights, another anti-deregulation group, said municipal districts often have the advantage of being more accountable to their customers, if only because those in charge are nearby. Angry customers can always go to a city council meeting and complain if they feel they haven't been treated fairly, he said. "They're not just customers; they're also constituents," Heller said. "You can't vote out PG&E, and you can't vote out the CPUC." </p>

Gas Prices Jump a Nickel;

January 8, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Meanwhile, a consumer group urges Congress to curb gas prices</h3><p class="source">Convenience Store News (CSN at the Trade Show)</p> <p>"Today's rising energy prices as the U.S. slides into recession are not a slow-moving disaster, they're a dive out the high-rise window," Judy Dugan, research director of FTCR, said in a statement. "Congress can't sit idle until the splatter hits the sidewalk." The organization asked Congress to call immediate hearings on energy price manipulation to question energy traders from hedge funds and oil companies. It added oil companies that reaped benefits of crude oil at $90 per barrel prices are pushing to match that when making gas.</p>

Gas prices go up again

January 4, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Erie Times-News (Pennsylvania)</p> <p>Worldwide demand for oil and political unrest in oil-producing nations are some of the factors behind the current escalation in prices. But Judy Dugan says there is more to it than that. She believes today's $100-a-barrel oil is the product of out-of-control market speculation. "Unregulated energy markets are an international Wild West of speculative gambling," said Dugan, research director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a California-based consumer organization that tracks energy issues. </p>

Gas prices go up again

January 4, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<div class="postDetail"> <p style="font-size: 11px"> <span style="font-weight: bold">Erie Times-News (Pennsylvania)</span><br/> January 4, 2008 </p> <p style="font-size: 10px"> by Jim Carroll, Erie Times-News </p> <h2>Gas...</h2> </div>

$100 oil and the ‘S’ word

November 27, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Is it growing demand and tight supply, or merely rampant speculation that has pushed crude to record highs?</h3><p class="source">CNNMoney.com</p> <p>"Just the multiple [contract] turnovers in the futures markets has a cost of its own," said Judy Dugan, research director at the Center of Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. Dugan, echoing recent sentiments by oil company executives themselves, said there's no fundamental reason why oil prices should be anywhere near $100 a barrel. "There's no inability to buy oil, this is not 1981," she said.</p>

Schwarzenegger’s ecological drive may be just more Hollywood

November 25, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Sunday Independent (South Africa)</p> <p>Jamie Court, the president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, says the governor is an opportunist who seized on global warming because going green has become a popular issue. Unlike Gore, who has called for action since the early 1990s, Schwarzenegger didn't present himself as a global warming warrior until 2005. "He deserves credit for pulling off a massive show," Court says. "But when the public doesn't see results, they shouldn't be surprised."</p>

The Governator’s Gold Rush;

November 25, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Arnold Schwarzenegger is shaping America's climate change agenda. But critics say the billions pouring into California's green industries are chasing Hollywood hype.</h3><p class="source">The Calgary Herald (Alberta, Canada)</p> <p>Schwarzenegger's critics suspect his crusade is more Hollywood razzle-dazzle than hard-nosed policy. Jamie Court, president of advocacy group Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, says the governor is an opportunist who seized on global warming because going green is popular with voters. "He deserves credit for pulling off a massive show," Court says. "But when the public doesn't see results, they shouldn't be surprised."</p>

Regulators responsible for fair, accurate gas measures keep cozy with the regulated

November 18, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Kansas City Star</p> <p>Although nothing had been done about it at the regulatory level, hot fuel in 2006 drew the attention of several consumer groups and an independent truckers' organization. Some of them began to attend conference meetings -- and were stunned by how cozy regulators were with the industries they regulated. "I was shocked to my shoes," said Judy Dugan, research director for The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica, Calif. "They have spent so long doing their business outside of public view that they don't know how they appear to other people." </p>

UC BERKELEY: BP research partnership contract is finally signed;

November 15, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3> Critics assail board for giving oil firm equal membership</h3><p class="source">The San Francisco Chronicle (California)</p> <p>The 114-page contract drew immediate criticism Wednesday from opponents of the partnership. The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica said the agreement "compromises the university's commitment to public education by allowing secret corporate research on campus." The group also attacked the change in the governance board. "BP can thwart any action they wish," said spokesman John Simpson.</p>

BP inks $500M research deal with UC-Berkeley

November 15, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Greenwire</p> <p>A California-based watchdog group, the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, criticized the agreement. "BP researchers will be able to suck up the best of what Berkeley's scientists have to offer, retreat behind locked, guarded doors and pursue their corporate agenda without giving anything back," the foundation's John Simpson said. "Academic research is based on an exchange of ideas and information. This is a one-way street benefiting only BP."</p>

CRUDE PRIMED TO HIT CENTURY MARK

November 8, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The New York Post</p> <p>Wholesale gasoline hit a high of $2.435 a gallon, up 5.39 cents -- totaling a 20-cent a gallon wholesale rise in the last week. Gas could soon fetch $4 a gallon at pumps in New York and California, said the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.</p>

Chevron fails to cash in on high oil prices;

November 3, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Third-quarter profit takes a 26% hit. The firm blames sharply lower profit margins on the West Coast.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>"No one outside of Wall Street can weep for Chevron or any of the other major oil companies," said Judy Dugan, research director at Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights. "The outlandish profits of recent years, almost entirely on the backs of motorists, allowed them to ignore the long-term sustainability of their core business." Dugan said that investments in renewable energy projects by Chevron and others were dwarfed by what they spent buying back company stock. Chevron, which recently completed three $5-billion share-buyback campaigns, launched a $15-billion share repurchase program in September.</p>