An uprising in Libya is not causing your wallet to bleed at the gas pump. The U.S. buys virtually no oil from Libya. Egypt and Tunisia, the other hotspots, don’t even produce oil. There’s still…
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Facts of Life On High Gas Prices: It’s the Speculators & Oil Companies To Blame Not Middle East
While skirmishes in Libya and uncertainty in the Middlie East are nice cover for outrageous gasoline prices, the fact is the same old suspects are making a killing from sky-high gas prices approaching $4 dollars per gallon in California: big oil companies and greedy speculators.
Fracking Congress Finally Wakes to Natgas Danger
Congress–or at least a few Democrats in Congress–are at last investigating the explosive and toxic dangers of deep drilling for natural gas–the newest, hottest fad in the oil and gas industry. From The Hill’s energy…
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Glenn Beck is Raising Your Gasoline Prices
Ok, it’s not all Glenn Beck’s Fault that you’re paying $3.40 or $3.70 or even $4.00 a gallon at the pump. But his fear-based take on democracy movements in the Middle East (oh, the caliphate!)…
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Mr. Koch, the Governor Is On the Line
A spoof phone call from “David Koch” to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker got lots of deserved press Wednesday, but an even bigger ruse was the real David Koch meeting with “staff” in John Boehner’s office
Chevron Ecuador Judgment: A Long Way From Paid
An Ecuadorean judge’s ruling Monday that Chevron owes $8.8 billion for oil-drilling damage and pollution in the Amazon is far less than asked. But it’s far more than Chevron intends to pay–which is zero, except…
1,500 People Against the Koch’s Dirty Money, Dirty Energy
(Rancho Mirage, CA)–A year ago, it’s unlikely that 15 people would have shown up for a rally against the Koch brothers, owners of the largest privately owned corporation in the U.S, even in the middle…
Pushing Back Against the Kochs
(Rancho Mirage, CA(–Here in sunny Rancho Mirage, it’s a typical progressive gathering–lots of energy, but the wifi in the conference room was kaput. Oh, well, we still heard a great panel to kick off the…
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Sunday Forecast: Disturbances for Koch Meeting
There’s still room for more at the “Uncloak the Kochs” rally Sunday in Rancho Mirage, near Palm Springs, CA. The occasion is a meeting, once intended to be secret, of climate deniers and political funders sponsored by energy mega-billionaires David and Charles Koch. The idea? Seek an antidote to Mad Billionaire’s Disease.
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$4 Gas? Blame the Big-Bucks Lobby–and the White House
There aren’t many oil analysts who still deny that speculation, and the sheer volume of speculative trades in energy commodities, drives up the price of oil and gasoline. But there’s an army of financial and…
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Do You Know Where Your Gas Taxes Are Going?
Here’s a kind of story that rarely gets reported without a specific combination of expert industry and legal knowledge and a nose for news: In Washington State, the government is passing along gas taxes to…
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BP Spill Claims: Secrecy Raises New Suspicion
Every time BP or its hired claims administrator Kenneth Feinberg drip out a little information about Feinberg’s pay deal and BP’s control of the process, it raises even deeper suspicions. I guess Feinberg’s independence from BP all depends on your definition of “independent.”
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Valero Uses Contract Workers for Easy Layoffs
We’ve been watching the refining company Valero since it spent $5 million last year attempting to kill California’s landmark global warming law. Ads for the ballot measure pounded on the idea that killing pollution controls would protect jobs. So does Valero really believe in protecting jobs? Ask the nearly 1,000 contract workers summarily dismissed from Valero’s Aruba plant (pictured) 16 months ago.