Judy Dugan – Oil Watchdog

Press Release

Chevron Counts on Jigsaw Puzzle of Safety Regulation to Escape Oversight, Accountability, Says Consumer Watchdog

7. August 2012

Santa Monica, CA — Monday night’s explosion and hours-long fire at Chevron’s large oil refinery in Richmond, Ca., released toxic chemicals including sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide in unknown amounts, sending hundreds of local residents to local hospitals with breathing and eye complaints. Yet the state agency with the most expertise in regulating such toxins, the Department of Toxic Substances Control, claims it has little to no oversight of dangerous substances produced in refinery accidents, said Consumer Watchdog.

Blog Post

Attack of Noir Satire Hits ‘Arctic Ready’ Shell Oil

Posted by Judy Dugan

3. August 2012

Shell Oil wants a 90-percent safety reduction in its “Arctic readiness?” No wonder it can’t take a joke, especially from Greenpeace.

Blog Post

Oil vs Water: California’s Underground Battle

Posted by Judy Dugan

25. July 2012

The word “fracking” exploded into the American vocabulary just a few years ago. People from Pennsylvania to Wyoming found chemicals creeping into their drinking water; some could light flammable gases straight from the faucet (video).as oil companies injected chemical-laced water deep underground to fracture gas-bearing rock. But in California, a narrow industry definition of fracking and the inattention of regulators kept the state mostly out of the conversation.

Press Release

Consumer Watchdog Urges Regulator to Shut Down Refiner After Leak That Endangered N. California Community

CONTACT: Judy Dugan

16. July 2012

State Department of toxic Substances Control Must Send “Strong Message” to Evergreen Oil Re-Refiner Over Repeated Safety Lapses, Accidents

Santa Monica, CA — Consumer Watchdog called on the Director of the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, Debbie Raphael, to indefinitely close the Evergreen Oil waste-oil re-refinery in Newark, Ca. in a letter sent today. On July 6, a pipe leak spewed “superheated oil” and triggered an emergency evacuation of the facility. The company and Newark police warned the surrounding community, including a nearby elementary school, to expect a wave of “strong odors” from the leak.

Blog Post

Senator, Energy Investigators Slam Refinery Price Manipulation

Posted by Judy Dugan

7. June 2012

The energy investigators who nailed Enron for energy price manipulation that nearly bankrupted California just took aim at oil refining giants including Chevron and BP. May the refiners’ gasoline-price schemes now come crashing down in…

Blog Post

California’s Lofty Perch on Gasoline Prices

Posted by Judy Dugan

15. May 2012

California gasoline prices are still soaring, even as the rest of the nation sees falling pump prices. The reason is simple: Refiners control the supply.

Blog Post

“Gas Pain” At Pump and Smokestack

Posted by Judy Dugan

29. March 2012

This California license plate, “Gas Pain,” might be the sly joke of a gastroenterologist, but it’s not on a Mercedes. So let’s stipulate that it means pain at the pump, with a gallon of regular…

Blog Post

Ohio’s Earthquake: Top 10 New Ways to Use Toxic Gas-Drilling Waste

Posted by Judy Dugan

3. January 2012

Ohio has shut down the natural gas drilling wastewater disposal well that triggers earthquakes. Politicians are finally reacting to drinking water contamination, too. We need new disposal methods for the salty, toxic waste and ways to hold oil companies accountable. Here are 10 great ways to do both!

Blog Post

2012: Few Jobs, But Gobs of Profit for Oil

Posted by Judy Dugan

3. January 2012

The reviled “jobless recovery” of the U.S. economy won’t improve much in 2012, say the usual forecasters. But oil company executives and market speculators can break out the champagne now as the price of crude oil starts the year with a huge jump. It’s not about Iranian threats or rising demand, it’s about speculative profits.

BP Lies Down With Russia, Gets Up With Fleas

Posted by Judy Dugan

9. November 2011

British oil giant BP would like us all to forget its record oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year, a deadly 2005 explosion at its Texas City oil refinery and a major Alaskan…

Wall Street Oil Speculators Hurt Families, U.S. Economy

Posted by Judy Dugan

14. October 2011

OilWatchdog and other critics of commodity speculation have long said that rampant speculation in oil futures markets has hurt families, cost jobs and kept the U.S. economy teetering on the edge of recession. Energy analyst…

Blog Post

Fracking and Yakking

Posted by Judy Dugan

5. October 2011

Exxon Mobil, which is making big bets worldwide on hydraulic fracturing for deeply buried natural gas, is also making big bets on its sincere, earnest advertising about clean, safe natural gas. The ads turn me into a…

Take Action on Gas Prices

Posted by Judy Dugan

20. September 2011

Here’s a petition from our ally Public Citizen, calling on federal regulators to quit stalling and rein in the financial speculators who are jacking up gasoline prices. It’s well worth the few seconds to click…

Archive | Author: Judy Dugan