Tracking the politics of pollution, climate change and emerging green technologies.
Press Release
Sacramento, CA — Consumer Watchdog told a state panel looking into gasoline price manipulation today that a handful of big oil refiners have been able to charge California drivers 70 cents to $1 more per gallon than the rest of America because they have an information advantage over the rest of the market, the public and regulators.
Press Release
Santa Monica, CA — Tesoro, the state’s second largest refiner, reported today that 2015 was its best year ever for refining in California. Based on an analysis of the company’s annual filing, Consumer Watchdog has found that in 2015 the company made $1.9 billion in California alone- their best year ever by over a billion dollars. The company controls 27% of California’s refining capacity. Tesoro made $423 million in California in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Press Release
Santa Monica, CA — Analysis of Tesoro’s earnings released today showed that the company made more California refining profit in the second quarter than ever in the company’s history. Based on the number of barrels the company refined in California, and the profits they made from each barrel, Consumer Watchdog calculates that the company’s second quarter California refiner profits were a record high of $668 million, crushing their prior record of $415 million in the second quarter of 2007. This number is four times higher than their average California profit since 2005 of $138 million.
Press Release
Santa Monica, CA — California has broken all records for the biggest gap between what consumers here have paid so far versus the rest of the nation for gas at the pump, Consumer Watchdog said today. Californians paid $1.2 billion more, after tax differentials, than the rest of the nation in the month of July, a record, and $4.8 billion more for their gasoline over the last six months ending July 31st, since gas price spikes started. That amounts to $201 extra dollars paid by each California driver.
Press Release
Santa Monica, CA — Consumer Watchdog today asked Governor Jerry Brown and top lawmakers to defund the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) or reform it from top to bottom, in the wake of the US Attorney’s criminal investigation and closure of Exide Technologies.
Press Release
Santa Monica, CA — Sacramento Superior Court has denied Boeing’s motion for summary judgment in a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) lawsuit over the demolition and disposal of radioactively contaminated structures from the site of a partial nuclear meltdown near Los Angeles, Consumer Watchdog said today.
Press Release
Santa Monica, CA — Following a Nebraska court’s ruling that the Keystone XL pipeline can be built, the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog said the issue should be moot for the Obama administration, the decision-maker, because the building of the pipeline will raise American gasoline prices – which are at historic lows.
Smoking Gun
A report released by Consumer Watchdog at the summit showed that the companies had spent more than $100 million on lobbying and campaign contributions during the last five years in California to combat environmental protections.
Press Release
Oakland, CA – The nonprofit Consumer Watchdog released a report chronicling the tactics California oil companies are likely to use to undermine implementation of climate protection laws and warned state officials they include artificially hiking the price of gasoline.
Press Release
SANTA MONICA, CA – A new report released by Consumer Watchdog today documents how Boeing and its influential fixers derailed the cleanup of a partial nuclear meltdown site in greater Los Angeles with help from their regulators at the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC).
Press Release
SANTA MONICA, CA –Today’s resignation of Debbie Raphael, Director of the Department of Toxic Substances Control, is a hopeful sign that the Brown Administration will finally clean up a deeply troubled department, Consumer Watchdog said today.
Press Release
Santa Monica, CA— A new report released today by leading environmental advocate Penny Newman and residents of the poisoned Wildomar community shows that state toxics regulators doctored data in a preliminary investigation of the Autumnwood housing complex to avoid pinpointing what has poisoned the Riverside County residents and skip any cleanup, Consumer Watchdog said today.
Press Release
Santa Monica, CA—Consumer Watchdog has called for a state investigation of the cleanup of Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco for large amounts of soil that may have been dug up in a radioactively impacted parcel without being checked for contamination and then sent off site for possible disposal in landfills unlicensed to take low-level radioactive waste.
