Energy Sector

The Weekly Wire: This Week's Recommended Events

Steve Coll

From Hot Dogs to Sotanghon, Sarap Is For The People

Geo Quibuyen​The Truck: Sarap Cafe, 1520 SW 100th St, (253) 709-2429. The Fare: Filipino-American The Stop: Formerly located in the Central District on Jackson Street, Sarap-- which means delicious in Tagalog-- is as of last month permanently parked at the Chevron Station on 16th Avenue SW ... More >>

The Fussy Eye: Oil and Water

Eco art, courtesy of Deepwater Horizon.

Bonneville Power Administration Says Northwest Has Too Much Energy; Orders Wind Farms Cut Off Grid

​The massive amount of snow that fell in the Pacific Northwest this winter means more than skiers and snowboarders being able to ride in June. It also means that the region's electricity supply--heavily augmented by hydroelectric power--has more energy than it knows what to do with. The solu ... More >>

Daniel Beltrá

​The massive amount of snow that fell in the Pacific Northwest this winter means more than skiers and snowboarders being able to ride in June. It also means that the region's electricity supply--heavily augmented by hydroelectric power--has more energy than it knows what to do with. The solu ... More >>

Peabody Energy Isn't Actually Giving Away Free Justin Bieber-Themed Inhalers to Children

​Coalcares.org sounds like exactly the kind of website that the PR gurus at Peabody Energy would create to help improve the image of coal-based energy production. But it's not. Coalcares.org is actually a spoof site meant to point out the health hazards of burning of coal. Not that giving away ... More >>

Class Action Lawyers Aren't Dead Yet, Says Seattle Lawyer Representing BP Oil Spill Victims

​Is the age of the class action lawyer over? That's one suggestion from a Sunday New York Times Magazine piece on the litigation feeding frenzy sparked by the BP Gulf oil spill. While the lawyers have been jostling for position and clients, there's been an effort to marginalize the members of ... More >>

Moonlight Cafe Has the Meatiest Egg Rolls in the Universe

You can expect most vegan cooking to look like it's been frosted with dog shit, just like this cupcake.​ Moonlight Cafe is notable in the same way that a weird roadside attraction is notable: interesting, sort of, but mostly nobody gives a shit. It's pretty dirty inside. The tabletops feel gu ... More >>

I-Greed: Big Biz Behind 'People's Initiatives'

​As noted in this week's SW cover story on the campaigns to privatize state liquor sales, both Initiative 1100 and I-1105 are the result of corporate politics moving into grass roots territory. Three major corporations spent more than $3 million on these "people's initiatives" in hopes of dive ... More >>

The Vaselines Visit the States, the Summer Concert Business, and Sting Calls Rock's BS

​-- Sup Pop: The Vaselines will be supporting their forthcoming album, Sex With An X (Sept. 14), with a U.S. tour that so far is skipping Seattle. But the band's playing Portland on Oct. 24 and Minneapolis on the 27th, so maybe they'll sneak in a stop in the 206. -- Pitchfork: Arcade Fire wil ... More >>

The BP Board Game That Predicted the Future

​For some reason, in 1970 energy company British Petroleum thought that it could replicate the thrills and dangers of offshore oil extraction with a piece of cardboard and some six-sided dice. So forty years before the Gulf oil spill that would make it infamous, BP produced a board game where ... More >>

A Straightjacket Built for Two

​For some reason, in 1970 energy company British Petroleum thought that it could replicate the thrills and dangers of offshore oil extraction with a piece of cardboard and some six-sided dice. So forty years before the Gulf oil spill that would make it infamous, BP produced a board game where ... More >>

BP Oil Spill: Who Will Mourn the Pancake Fish?

Photo courtesy LSU, via CNNOh, ain't you a pretty little fella...​It seems that every journalist in the world is currently racing around the Gulf, desperately trying to snap pictures or shoot video of hard-working volunteers scrubbing BP oil off of nature's cutest critters. Show me some good-h ... More >>

BP's Gulf Oil Spill Superimposed Over Seattle (Updated)

​Last month, when everyone thought that BP's Gulf oil spill was just a minor terrible disaster, we published a post about what the slick might look like superimposed over Seattle. Since then, the original estimates about how much crude is being pumped into the sea have gone up by, say, a facto ... More >>

Kathryn Schulz

​Last month, when everyone thought that BP's Gulf oil spill was just a minor terrible disaster, we published a post about what the slick might look like superimposed over Seattle. Since then, the original estimates about how much crude is being pumped into the sea have gone up by, say, a facto ... More >>

Vets and Greens v. Oil and Shameless Consumerism: Brawl of the Week

​This morning, the Seattle Times led the front page with a photo of a pelican struggling in the oily muck formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico. With the BP spill hitting the coast of Florida, members of the Sierra Club and two veterans gathered at Gasworks Parks to insist that the city, county ... More >>

Gulf Oil Spill Miscalculations Came From Seattle Scientists

Sorry little guy, things are gonna get much worse before they get better.​It's probably not easy to calculate exactly how much oil is being spewed when the geyser is hundreds of feet below the water's surface. But it's even harder when you rush and use the wrong formula. Conventional wisdom h ... More >>

Maria Cantwell, Grilling BP Exec, Shows How to Stick It to the Fat Cats

Senator Maria Cantwell put on one of her best political performances to date yesterday as she grilled BP president and chair Lamar McCay in a Senate committee hearing about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in a Senate committee hearing. With her cool demeanor and sharp questions, noted by the Huffing ... More >>

Washington, Too, Is Experiencing BP's Peculiar Approach to Oil Safety

Inspectors found 13 safety violations at BP's Cherry Point refinery, seen above.​Given that there is currently a geyser of oil pumping millions and millions of gallons of the company's black gold into the Gulf of Mexico, and that the federal government's plans to expand drilling in the nation' ... More >>

Exxon Valdez Reporter On Gulf Oil Spill: Expect Redneck-to-Environmentalist Conversion

Lafayette's newest Sierra Club member.​As an environmental reporter for the Seattle Times, William Dietrich was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Now, more than two decades later, he's predicting how things will play out in the years follo ... More >>

Q&A: Daniel Martin Moore on Dear Companion, Hazardous Coal Mining, and How The Shins Led Him to Sub Pop

Jonathan WillisDaniel Martin Moore and Ben Sollee will play the Crocodile on Tuesday, March 30.​Folk singer Daniel Martin Moore had grown up in Kentucky, served in the Peace Corps in Cameroon, and relocated to Minnesota before he decided to focus on songwriting full time. In 2008, Sub Pop rele ... More >>

Mother Nature Good!

One junior Senator thinks she’s the Secretary of State.

Crude: Our Thirsty SUVs Destroy Latin America

One junior Senator thinks she’s the Secretary of State.

Cheap White Inventory

For local skiers, March was one of the best months in memory. Crystal Mountain reports that, "We received 144 inches of snow; this is the most snow we've received in March in 15 years!" But snow is an asset not just for ski areas, but for the City of Seattle, too. And the city recently issued an od ... More >>

Pratap Chatterjee

For local skiers, March was one of the best months in memory. Crystal Mountain reports that, "We received 144 inches of snow; this is the most snow we've received in March in 15 years!" But snow is an asset not just for ski areas, but for the City of Seattle, too. And the city recently issued an od ... More >>

Sarah Palin: The GOP Taps Their Inner Chavez

For local skiers, March was one of the best months in memory. Crystal Mountain reports that, "We received 144 inches of snow; this is the most snow we've received in March in 15 years!" But snow is an asset not just for ski areas, but for the City of Seattle, too. And the city recently issued an od ... More >>

Afternoon Edition: Oil Spills, Wounded Drunks, and Naked Cowboys

For local skiers, March was one of the best months in memory. Crystal Mountain reports that, "We received 144 inches of snow; this is the most snow we've received in March in 15 years!" But snow is an asset not just for ski areas, but for the City of Seattle, too. And the city recently issued an od ... More >>

Fact Checking Clinton, Obama's Remarks on Exxon Mobil

For local skiers, March was one of the best months in memory. Crystal Mountain reports that, "We received 144 inches of snow; this is the most snow we've received in March in 15 years!" But snow is an asset not just for ski areas, but for the City of Seattle, too. And the city recently issued an od ... More >>

The Dirtiest Campaign

For local skiers, March was one of the best months in memory. Crystal Mountain reports that, "We received 144 inches of snow; this is the most snow we've received in March in 15 years!" But snow is an asset not just for ski areas, but for the City of Seattle, too. And the city recently issued an od ... More >>

Go green, void warranty

For local skiers, March was one of the best months in memory. Crystal Mountain reports that, "We received 144 inches of snow; this is the most snow we've received in March in 15 years!" But snow is an asset not just for ski areas, but for the City of Seattle, too. And the city recently issued an od ... More >>

Seattle City Light Wants You to "Green Up" by Paying Extra

Is this ecologically sound or a waste of good intentions?

This Just In...

Is this ecologically sound or a waste of good intentions?

The Dr. of Rock

Fill 'er up with biodiesel, Dr. Dan!

One Crude Dude

With Big Oil reeling from the Prudhoe Bay shutdown, Chuck Hamel can finally say 'I told you so.'

Clean-Energy Frenzy

As the Northwest struggles with soaring fuel and electricity prices, corporate executives and entrepreneurs are joining politicians and activists to develop cleaner, smarter, and self-reliant energy sources.

Over a Barrel

As the Northwest struggles with soaring fuel and electricity prices, corporate executives and entrepreneurs are joining politicians and activists to develop cleaner, smarter, and self-reliant energy sources.

My Pet Scapegoat

Michael Moore further insinuates himself into the mind of George W. Bush. Funny what a good fit it is.

Ship Out of Shape

A patched-up oil tanker piques local fears.

It's raining shoes

A patched-up oil tanker piques local fears.

Bright future?

Seattle City Light's controversial new plan to lower rates and save the environment.

Bad energy

Washington's senators are in the thick of the battle over a national energy bill.

Crackling electricity

Puget Sound Energy wants to raise your electric bill.

News Clips— Present/Absentee

Puget Sound Energy wants to raise your electric bill.

It doesn't matter any more

Puget Sound Energy wants to raise your electric bill.

Childproof Seattle

Puget Sound Energy wants to raise your electric bill.

Letters

Break with tradition

Chevron's switch

Break with tradition