04-20-09 by dugan The biofuel industry was robbed by the California Air Resources Board, says a letter today from scientists at the Sandia National Laboratories. The biofuels industry has been crying foul since the California…
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Archive | Tag: cash register politics
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Cap and trade. Eek!
The Environmental Protection Agency declaration Friday that greenhouse gases and global warming are a threat requiring action is the enviro equivalent of the teacher announcing a pop quiz on quadratic equations. All of us who…
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Chevron’s torture(d) lawyer
03-31-09 by dugan Corporate arrogance leads to corporate blindness: AIG execs who packaged impossible risk into AAA securities, bankers who lent trillions on a bet that the real estate bubble would never pop. In Chevron’s…
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Conflict Taints Hot Fuel Study Outcome
Consumer Group Letters Charge Conflict of Interest in Oil-Friendly Outcome of California Fuel Temperature Study Gov. Schwarzenegger, Assembly Speaker Bass Asked for Action to Protect Consumer Fairness Santa Monica, CA — Consumer Watchdog has filed…
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Hot Fuel Study Fixed For Big Oil
Documents Show Political Appointees Interfered With Cal. Energy Commission Study Of Hot Fuel Ripoff To Protect Oil Companies Consumer Group Says Government Staff’s Consumer-Oriented Findings Were Altered by Commissioners With Ties to Oil Industry Santa…
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Smart grid: Genius or greenwash
03-08-09 by dugan "Move over, Big Oil. There’s a new VIP guest in the White House: Silicon Valley." Writers know you have to nab readers with the lead paragraph. That one above, by Erika Lovley…
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Word fight over hot fuel
03-04-09 by dugan Are fairness and transparency in buying and selling just "public perceptions" that are "subjective" and "variable"? Of course not. That’s why regulators measure and inspect the scales at your supermarket. They even…
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Clean fun with coal
Opponents of coal got a big buzz the past week by releasing a YouTube video, "Clean Coal Air Freshener," produced by filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen. It’s good as the sparkling family chokes, and the…
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Loving Exxon and Ben Stein?
When I hear that Ben Stein and the chairman of Exxon are both pushing a policy that I like, it scares me to pieces. Last month, Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson said in a speech that…
Press Release
Groups Seek Hot Fuel Records
Consumer Groups Seek Records of California Energy Commission On Disputed ‘Hot Fuel’ Report, After Conflict of Interest Charge Against Commissioner Santa Monica, CA — Consumer Watchdog and Public Citizen have filed a detailed request for…
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Solar power grab in L.A.
2-18-09 by dugan There’s no organized opposition to a misbegotten and politics-ridden solar power initiative on the March 3 city ballot in Los Angeles–because there’s no money to be made from opposing it, and because…
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What’s up with gas prices?
2-17-09 by dugan The motto of the oil industry is: "If you can’t haul in profit on the front end, hit the back end." OK, I just made that up . But California gasoline prices…
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Your loss, big oil’s win
02-11-09 by dugan When the gruesome California state budget struggle finally ends, Californians will pay: higher sales taxes, vehicle fees, gasoline taxes and income taxes, acccording to a Sacramento Bee story with the ring of…