May 17, 2007 Restrict Big Oil's effort to green-wash image through UC by John M. Simpson - Op-Ed Commentary If BP and the University of California system decide upon a partnership, some minimum standards must be met: The University of California should control the direction and the results of the research. Any patented discoveries should be licensed to all comers on a non-exclusive basis. Secret proprietary research should not be allowed on campus. Any BP marketing efforts using the UC name should be approved on a case-by-case basis by the regents themselves....read more May 14, 2007 by Jamie Court & Judy Dugan (FTCR) - Op-Ed Commentary Who's afraid of Big Oil? Apparently, California's elected officials. Gasoline prices are stuck well above last year's record highs and about 50 cents above the national average. Yet state politicians are not saying or doing a thing, except for raking in political cash from the oil companies and flying around the world on their dime....read more April 25, 2007 by Jamie Court - Op-Ed Commentary Is Chevron really going green? Shareholders, who partook in Chevron's record $17 billion petroleum profit last year, may only want their company to appease the new environmentally sensitive Congress with green puffery. If the company is going to talk the talk, though, it needs to walk the walk....read more March 26, 2007 by Anchor: Kai Ryssdal - Commentator: Jamie Court One thing you didn't hear President Bush or the car company CEO's pointing out this morning, is that right about the time they were talking, oil was hitting $63 a barrel. Or that gas prices are up sharply as well, more than a nickel in the past two weeks. $2.61 is the average for a gallon of self-serve regular now. Part of that's geopolitical. Tensions in the Middle East and supply problems in Nigeria rarely make prices to go down. But commentator and consumer advocate Jamie Court suggests there are some sleight of hand behind those rising gas prices, too....read more January 2, 2007 Gas-price conspiracy? You bet! by Host: Kai Ryssdal / Commentator: Jamie Court (FTCR) Commentator and consumer advocate Jamie Court says there IS evidence that oil companies intentionally influence gas-price fluctuations....read more May 23, 2006 Depends what you mean by 'gouged'... by Kai Ryssdal - Host; Jamie Court - Commentary You might remember yesterday we told you about a report by the Federal Trade Commission. It said there was no illegal price fixing in the oil markets after Hurrican Katrina. But that wasn't enough for the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. Today, Alaska Republican Ted Stevens said he wants to outlaw excessive price increases. Said he's going to write a bill that'll take care of it. First, though, he has to define what exactly price gouging is. Commentator and consumer advocate Jamie Court is happy to help....read more May 14, 2006 Big Oil limiting gasoline supply; California pays for corporate chicanery by Jamie Court (FTCR) - Op-Ed Commentary California oil refiners have rigged their system by limiting the number of refineries and running on low inventories. The companies have closed nearly half the state's refineries since federal gasoline deregulation in 1981. Today, the gasoline supply barely meets demand. As a result, the commodity appears scarce and the market price for it is sky high, along with profits. ...read more May 8, 2006 Gasoline Supplies Should Be Regulated and 'Shortages' Should Be Prevented by JUDY DUGAN (FTCR) - Op-Ed Commentary Anyone whose hair stood on end during the latest round of record oil company profits ought to start bracing now for next quarteręs reports. Half of California's dollar-a-gallon price spike since Jan. 1 for regular gasoline has come in the last 30 days, thus wasn't included in first-quarter earnings. It is hard to imagine oil companies continuing to spin their defiant excuses -- the price of crude oil, the price of ethanol -- when they are increasing prices so much faster than their costs....read more February 21, 2006 by ANCHOR: BRIAN WATT / COMMENTATOR: JAMIE COURT The truth is, unless you're driving a higher performance car, or an old muscle car of the past, gas is gas. Oil companies' marketing claims over the need for higher octane fuel used to be ever bigger hooey. The Federal trade Commission stepped in the 1990s to force fairer representations. With oil companies now recording record profits, they have even more money to make bigger marketing boasts. But the truth is no different: Buy the cheapest gasoline you can find unless your automaker tells you otherwise....read more October 11, 2005 by Anchor: Kai Ryssdal - Commentator: Jamie Court Jamie Court (FTCR): Refineries make the residential heating oil that warms your home. Part of the reason home heating prices are skyrocketing is there are barely enough refineries to meet demand. Oil companies like it that way. A scarce commodity keeps their prices and profits high....read more |
