Oil Watchdog

The panel named by President Obama to investigate the BP Deepwater Horizon blowout on Tuesday rejected a call by a consumer activist group for the resignation of its chief counsel, Fred H. Bartlit Jr. The group, Consumer Watchdog, said that the panel should dismiss Mr. Bartlit because his law firm, Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott, once represented Halliburton, one of the companies involved in drilling the BP well.

Did Halliburton Push Its ‘Cost-Cutting’ Cement?

Friday, October 29, 2010

Halliburton is the sloppy contractor with no license, bad B.O. and helpers off the street who use gravel to stretch the cement and pour your driveway without the rebar. Except writ large. And deadly. As the New York Times story says, “Halliburton knew weeks before the fatal explosion of the Macondo well in the Gulf [...]

Hey, Chevron. Clean up Your Own Messes

Thursday, October 28, 2010

The Texas oil money behind Proposition 23 is widely known by now. But there's been less publicity about Big Oil--specifically Chevron--putting $4 million into passing Propostion 26, according to a nifty interactive chart just released by OilChange International.

Feinberg to Chamber: “It won’t work”

Carmen Balber

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

I had lunch in the Chamber of Commerce's AIG-sponsored "Hall of Flags" today, where BP compensation fund administrator Kenneth Feinberg told the Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform that the legal system is working just fine.

BP’s Long, Ugly History of Profit Over Safety

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Anyone who thinks BP's big new promise to put safety before profit should read or watch the ProPublica/Frontline investigation of BP's wretched safety history. (The Frontline documentary airs Tuesday). It's the story of a corporation that for years cut costs to fuel growth above all, viewed safety as a waste of money and baldly lied to regulators.

Obama Should Stop BP Fund Administrator Feinberg From Giving Chamber Of Commerce Keynote Or Fire Him, Watchdog Says

Carmen Balber

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

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Washington, DC -- Consumer Watchdog asked President Obama to force BP Fund Administrator Kenneth Feinberg to withdraw from a keynote address Wednesday at a Chamber of Commerce group dedicated to eviscerating spill victims’ legal rights, and to fire Feinberg if he refuses.

Koch Brothers: Spiders At The Center Of A Web

Thursday, October 21, 2010

The Koch brothers, with their $55 billion net worth backing a politics of destruction and greed, are bad enough alone. But they’re also coordinators of a web of corporate and media powers on the far right, as revealed this week by the Center for American Progress. (Link is to Truthout, which has a more readable [...]

Yes Men Pull a Double Fake on Chevron

Monday, October 18, 2010

Chevron seemed to act fast–too fast–to shoot down a spoof Monday of the oil company’s “We Agree” faux-caring ad campaign. The spoof was by the Yes Men group, whose “Chamber of Commerce” news conference last year, calling for strong climate change laws, made the real Chamber apoplectic. This time, the Yes Men sent out a [...]

Tesoro Banks On High Gas Prices In California, Touts “West Coast Premium”

Monday, October 18, 2010

Consumer Group Calls On Pension Funds to Divest From Prop 23 Backers Tesoro, Valero Santa Monica, CA – Consumer advocates revealed an investor slide presentation by Texas-based oil company Tesoro explaining that oil refiners keep gasoline supplies especially tight on the West Coast to keep profits high through higher pump prices. The slides were included in a letter from Consumer Watchdog to California’s large public pension funds, known as CalPERS and CalSTRS, calling on the funds to divest from Tesoro and another refiner, Valero, which are the chief sponsors of Proposition 23 on the November ballot. The Investment Committee of CalPERS is meeting in Long Beach today.

Consumer Watchdog Exposes Koch Industries on Times Square Superscreen For Pollution, Tea Party Funding, and Climate Change Denial Using Coke Parody

Jamie Court

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

New York, NY -- A national consumer group is running a 30 second commercial on a Times Square Superscreen that challenges Koch Industries, "the largest oil company you've never heard of," for its record of environmental degradation, political influence, Tea Party funding and climate change denial.

Study: Texas-Based Valero Gouging California Drivers For A Decade

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Top Prop 23 Funder Doesn’t Want Greentech Competition To Get in Way of Profiteering Santa Monica, CA – A new report by Consumer Watchdog's OilWatchdog.org project finds that Valero Energy reaped over $4.5 billion in refining profit while gouging California motorists since it bought its second California refinery in 2002. The oil refining giant, which is also the largest funder of Proposition 23, averaged 37% higher margins on each barrel of oil it refined in California than at refineries it owns elsewhere in the country, according to data published in company financial reports.

BP Safety Chief: Big Talk, but What Else?

Wednesday, September 29, 2010