Archive for September 1st, 2010

Consumers won’t have to look hard to see if their cars are making the grade. The Obama administration has proposed a new system of stickers for cars and trucks that identify not only a vehicle’s miles-per-gallon, but also an estimate of its green house gas emissions and annual fuel costs. The New York Times considers these stickers to be  “a symbol of how far this country has come in providing a wider range of environmentally responsible choices to help ensure cleaner air and a healthier planet.”

These stickers are a way for consumers to make more informed choices and also push auto manufacturers to evaluate their products.

By including green house gas emissions, consumers will be aware of their overall environmental impact and footprint. The standards cover the model years 2012 to 2016 and stricter standards could be proposed within the next couple of years.

Slocum

Today marks the start of rallies across the country organized by the oil and gas industry to block Congress from passing much-needed measures to address problems that came to light during the BP Gulf of Mexico disaster.

The American Petroleum Institute (API), which is organizing the events in Texas, Ohio, Illinois, New Mexico and Colorado, claims to speak not only for industry workers but for “countless consumers” who are concerned about the proposals.

Don’t be fooled. This is phony grassroots. Americans were aghast at the BP oil disaster and what they learned subsequently: that the government exercises little oversight over offshore oil drilling, that there is a ridiculously low

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It’s always comforting to know that no matter how deeply we sink into recession, executives at America’s leading corporations continue to rake in obscene amounts of money in salaries and bonuses. According to Think Progress, The Institute for Policy Studies found that the 50 firms that laid off the most workers since the economy went into the tank are also, apparently, the companies most of touch with the rest of America. So, while you and I are were watching our expenses and cutting back, these firms continued to give exorbitant salaries to their CEOs, who averaged nearly $12 million in pay for 2009. From Think Progress:

Those CEOs’ combined compensation totaled $598 million, while at the same time, their companies eliminated 531,363 jobs despite reporting a 44 percent average profit increase for 2009.

A daily look at news from the Washington Post, New York Times and Wall Street Journal that caught our eye:

Energy

Annual rankings of federal workplaces puts Nuclear Regulatory Commission at top (WP)

Cleaner Cars, A to D (NYT)

Minnesota balks at health-law funds (WSJ)

Nuclear plant’s tear-down is template (WSJ)

Health

2,000 groups approved for early-retiree health-care funds (WP)

Dear patients: Vote to repeal ObamaCare (WSJ opinion)

Race on to prevent clots (WSJ)

Financial Reform

SEC won’t pursue fraud case against Moody’s (WP)

Better credit card rules for consumers (WP op-ed)

‘Systemic risk’ stonewall (WSJ opinion)

JP Morgan to exit proprietary trading (WSJ)

Ethics

Scholarships Are Focus of Questions on Ethics (NYT)

3 Congressmen May Face Further Inquiry (NYT)

Lawmakers face ethics probe (WSJ)

Offshore oil regulators are ordered to cut their oft-deep industry ties (WSJ)

Lawmaker steered money to relatives (WSJ)

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