Category Archives: Press Releases and Editorials
CFC applauds Governor Brown’s call to revise toxic flammability standards
We applaud Governor Brown’s call for state regulators to revise an antiquated furniture fire safety standard that has exposed millions to dangerous levels of toxic flame retardant chemicals. Read More ›
CFC: Did chemical lobbyists violate the law?
by Ricahrd Holober, Market Watch
The Consumer Federation of California is calling on California regulators to investigate a chemical industry front group named Citizens for Fire Safety for possible violations of California law when it paid an expert witness who provided false testimony to legislators. California Government Code Section 86205 states “no … Read More ›
Carrier IQ Revelations and Smart Phone Privacy
by Zack Kaldveer, CFC Communications Director, Privacy Revolt/Consumer Federation of California
Since this Carrier IQ story broke last week, we’ve learned that the company’s spying technology is present on 141 million phones, including Androids and iPhones and possibly models made by BlackBerry, Nokia and other manufacturers. Read More ›
Consumers Get a Breath of Fresh Air from Jerry Brown
by Richard Holober, CFC Executive Director, California Progress Report
On issues ranging from household toxics to food safety to elder abuse to personal privacy, Governor Jerry Brown has demonstrated much greater empathy with consumer protection than his predecessor. Read More ›
SB 147 Fact Sheet – The Consumer Choice Fire Protection Act
Halogenated fire retardants have been linked to endocrine disruption, neurological and developmental impairments, cancer, reduced IQ, learning disabilities such as attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity, infertility, and a host of other health disorders. Read More ›
CFC’s Zack Kaldveer Provides Comments to the PUC on Privacy and the Smart Grid
by Zack Kaldveer, Consumer Federation of California, California Progress Report
Personal privacy issues routinely arise when data collected is harmless in isolation, but becomes a threat when combined with other data, or examined by a third party for patterns. In other words, what are the potential “unintended consequences” of such an electrical system? And more importantly, what must we do to ensure that those unintended consequences are never realized? Read More ›
CFC’s June 2010 Election Recap: Endorsed Candidates Win Big, Ballot Measures Mixed
Consumers Beat Back Big Business on Props 16 and 17′ The taste of victory is sweet, especially when it overcomes $62 million of the worst kind of deceitful campaigning. Two arrogant corporations received the humiliations they richly deserved when voters turned down Proposition 16 and 17 yesterday. … Read More ›
PG&E Customers Killed Prop 16
by Richard Holober, CFC Executive Director, California Progress Report
PG&E spent $46 million of its ratepayer dollars on Prop 16 to make sure our electric rates remain high, without asking the consent of its ratepayers. Read More ›
“Health Reform: The Year Of The Schlemiels”, By the CFC’s Richard Holober
by Richard Holober, Consumer Federation of California, California Progress Report
Bungling Democrats should acknowledge they lost the fight for the support of the people on health care reform. The sooner they flee this field of battle, and move on to issues that re-connect them with the mood of America, the better their chances to salvage the mid-term elections. Read More ›
The Politics of Fear and “Whole-Body-Imaging”, By CFC’s Zack Kaldveer
by Zack Kaldveer, Consumer Federation of California, California Progress Report
Before we…willfully give up our civil liberties and freedoms, support wars on countries that did nothing to us, and sign off on wasting HUGE amounts of money on ineffectual security systems, consider this: Your chances of getting hit by lightning in one year is 500,000 to 1 while the odds you’ll be killed by a terrorist on a plane over 10 years is 10 million to 1. Read More ›
Senate Bill Proclaims Health Care Is Not a Right; It’s a Business Where the Customer Gets Fleeced
by Richard Holober, Consumer Federation of California, California Progress Report
Wall Street knows a gold mine when it sees one, and it likes what it saw in the Senate health care bill. Health insurance company stocks soared to an 18 month high the day the Democrats reached the magic 60 votes needed for passage of its overhaul bill. Read More ›
Steinberg Stands With SRO Tenants Against AT&T
It was the first time that all three major consumer rights groups in the state (TURN, UCAN and Consumer Federation of California) worked together to oppose a CPUC Commissioner. Read More ›
Schwarzenegger Receives Failing Grade from Consumer Rights Organization
“We are disappointed that the Governor sided with big business interests and against consumers on the majority of bills that reached his desk. The Governor turned a deaf ear to California consumers on key food safety, automobile insurance and financial privacy proposals.”