Fossil Fuel Energy Production

The Weekly Wire: This Week's Recommended Events

Steve Coll

George Atwater and Robert Miracle: Seattle Oil Tycoons Charged With $10 Million Fraud Scheme

Drilling for oil and natural gas in southeast Asia is lucrative business, especially if an investor pumps $10 million cash into your company and you don't actually do any drilling.

Venoy Overton's Pimping Trial Postponed Until After UW Basketball Season

​Former University of Washington point guard Venoy Overton was scheduled to go to trial earlier this week in Kent on charges that he pimped out his 18-year-old girlfriend last summer. But now Overton's trial has been re-scheduled for April, after his alma mater's season will have ended.

Sen. Patty Murray and Rest of Failed Supercommittee Blame Everyone But Themselves

​It's both unfair and inaccurate to call the 12 members of the Congressional Supercommittee "total failures." They're not total failures. In fact, they are succeeding quite admirably in one regard.

Amazon Gets Failing Grade for Political Transparency, Says Study

​Question: What do Amazon and Disney have in common? Answer: Both company's founders had/have a strange interest in cryogenics. Oh, also both companies are apparently extremely secretive about how they spend money to influence national politics.

Steve Ballmer Trashed by Online Commenters--Internet Reads Way Too Far Into It

​In the hierarchy of written communication, anonymous Internet commenters rank a slight notch above people who carve swear words into bathroom stalls and a tad below kids who say the alphabet by burping. Try telling that to the tech blogosphere today, however, because one might think that ev ... More >>

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 Last Mountain: Environmental Ruin in West Virginia

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.

Daniel Beltrá

Eco art, courtesy of Deepwater Horizon.

Boeing Makes List of Top 12 Corporate Welfare Queens

Boeing, tax cheat, Fortune 500, Citizens for Tax Justice

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 >>

Hawaiian Gas Prices Soon to Be Exported to Seattle

EGO206​Here's a photo of a gas-station sign in Hawaii taken very recently. Outrageous, we know. But it's just Hawaii, right? A place where everything besides pineapples and suntans have to be imported? Don't be so sure. These horribly depressing signs are likely soon to be headed to the mainla ... More >>

The Fussy Eye: Park and Hide

EGO206​Here's a photo of a gas-station sign in Hawaii taken very recently. Outrageous, we know. But it's just Hawaii, right? A place where everything besides pineapples and suntans have to be imported? Don't be so sure. These horribly depressing signs are likely soon to be headed to the mainla ... More >>

Justin Bieber Stampede, BP Oil Spill, Watermelon Backfire Claim Top Spots in FAIL Blog's Top FAILS of 2010 (VIDEOS)

​Seattle-based internet humor website FAIL Blog just dropped its "Top FAILS of 2010" last night, and, as might be expected, the videos will instantly both lower your intelligence and raise your self esteem--the mark of good internet comedy. Let's take a peek at the winners (or losers, dependin ... 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 >>

Catherine Lutz

​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 >>

The Sarah Palin Factor Draws Demo Blood

​In this brave new cyberworld, failed candidate and gubernatorial quitter Sarah Palin believes she has the power to tweet and Facebook fellow conserves into office. They seem to believe she does, too. Spokane Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers was buoyed when FB'd by the Alaskan political dropout, as ... 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 >>

In Light of Louisiana Spill, Will Dino Rossi Come Out Against His Big Oil Donors?

FacebookWill Rossi go with the greens on offshore drilling, potentially pissing off big donors?​In announcing his campaign yesterday, Senate-hopeful Dino Rossi didn't talk about the Louisiana oil spill, which we learned today has surpassed the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in size. Nor does he of ... 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 >>

Versus: Convenience Snacking at 7-Eleven and Chevron Extra Mile

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 >>

Versus: An Inconvenient Truth

The Dish We'd like to preface this week's column with a warning: You should not be eating either of the following Versus contenders. This is the absolute lowest grade of food you can possibly buy. If you're starving, need something fast and have a couple of bucks to spare, go get yourself something ... 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 >>

Pratap Chatterjee

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 >>

Mike Davis

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 >>

Silent Movie Mondays

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 >>

Christian Sidor

“Fossil hunting at the bottom of the world”

Stevens to Seattle: The $13 Taco Trail

You won't miss a single truck.

Al Gore

The entirely calm, reasonable, and persuasive star of An Inconvenient Truth.