Energy

ExxonMobil makes $10 billion on record gas prices

July 26, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>But profit falls from last year on lower natural gas sales and doesn't top its previous record quarter.</h3><p class="source">CNNMoney.com</p> <p>"Oil companies are making outrageous profits on gasoline, even when they make less of it," Judy Dugan, research director of the advocacy group OilWatchdog, said earlier this week in a statement.</p>

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Big Oil’s impact on research is debated

July 15, 2007  ·  John M. Simpson

<p class="source">The San Francisco Chronicle</p> <p>John Simpson of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, based in Santa Monica, sees university affiliations as attractive to an industry trying to change its image but perilous to universities if safeguards are not put in place to protect their independence and reputation. "When you have that amount of money coming in to a place, the mere presence of the money can have a substantial impact on the behavior of the university, and that means that it's all the more necessary that specific safeguards go into place that prevent the university's good name from being taken advantage of," he said.</p>

Experts reject proposal on ‘hot fuel’ guidelines;

July 12, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Consumer groups seek temperature-correcting devices on gas pumps.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>The disappointment was echoed by Judy Dugan of the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, which estimated that hot fuel costs Californians an extra 3 cents per gallon. "California is the hot fuel capital of the world, and its motorists lose more money than in any other state," Dugan said. "The science of hot fuel is simple and the loss to consumers is undeniable. Lawmakers have to stand up to oil industry pressure and do what's right for motorists."</p>

A fix for ‘hot fuel’ faces decisive vote

July 11, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Kansas City Star</p> <p>Judy Dugan, research director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica, Calif., countered that hot fuel was costing consumers billions of dollars annually in additional fuel costs. She said delaying action by this "supposedly independent group" was unwarranted. "To say this issue needs more study is simply duplicitous," Dugan said.</p>

Pulling back the green curtain

July 10, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<font face="verdana,sans-serif" size="2">We all know about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's meddling-by-proxy to <a href="http://arnoldwatch.org/blogs/blogs_001051.php3">slow down implementation of California's global warming bill</a>. Now we find...

Paying for ‘Ghost Gas’

July 9, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Day to Day Program - National Public Radio (NPR)</p> <p>Ms. JUDY DUGAN (Research Director, Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights): This is what's caused drivers for years to say, gosh, I get worse gas mileage in the summer, because it's gasoline that's being sold in a way that fundamentally works against the consumer and costs you about 50 cents a tankful.</p>

Fired Enviro Regulators Reveal Arnold Interfered on Donors’ Behalf

July 6, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Does the governor regularly coordinate meetings between his biggest donors and top regulators? That's the first question Arnold has to answer after revelations made today by Catherine Witherspoon and Robert Sawyer, the Air Resources Board...

Md. launches anti ‘hot fuel’ campaign

July 4, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Frederick News-Post (Maryland)</p> <p>Hot fuel could cost the consumer $1.5 billion over the summer, according to a congressional study. When the temperature reached 90 degrees, the average motorist may pay an extra $1.44 to fill up, according to The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. A study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology found fuel is dispensed on average at 5 degrees warmer than the federal standard. </p>

Call to address; iPhone worries

July 3, 2007  ·  Harvey Rosenfield

<p class="source">The Gold Coast Bulletin (Australia)</p> <p>Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights has warned Apple CEO Steve Jobs and CEO of AT&T Stan Sigman they need to agree to new consumer safeguards for the iPhone. In a letter to the two CEOs, FTCR founder Harvey Rosenfield has called on them to address two serious potential problems -- the issue of battery replacement and the cancellation penalty the pair have said they will impose on anyone wanting to get out of the two-year contract they have to sign for when they buy their iPhone.</p>

Gas prices fall; enjoy it while it lasts

July 3, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The San Diego Union-Tribune (California)</p> <p>"The momentum for falling gasoline prices is slowing," said Judy Dugan of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica. Dugan says recent declines had a political component, explaining that she believes the large oil companies sought to dampen growing public rage and the possibility of a consumer-friendly federal energy bill with lower prices. "Oil companies, having killed almost everything they disliked in the Senate's energy bill, can drop their charade of good corporate citizenship," Dugan said.</p>

Governor accused of playing politics on warming rules;

July 3, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>2 members of air board exit, saying he pressured them</h3><p class="source">THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE</p> <p>The governor has made his name across the world as the jolly green governor, and now we have the regulators saying his inner circle has pressured them to go slow because the big industries don't want us to go too quickly," said Jamie Court, president of the Foundation for Taxpayers and Consumer Rights, a consumer watchdog group.</p>

Fourteen lawmakers seek action on ‘hot fuel’

July 3, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Kansas City Star</p> <p>"The warning labels are acknowledgment of this longtime oil industry rip-off of motorists just as they begin their holiday trips," said Judy Dugan, research director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. "More consumers will understand what's causing their summer drop-off in gas mileage and be furious. Tesoro would be better off if it went ahead and sold its gasoline fairly."</p>