Fossil Fuel Energy Production

Pollution Report: San Francisco Can Breathe Easy. No, Really, It Can!

If walking the hills of San Francisco to get to your parked car leaves you totally breathless, well, sadly, it's you, not the city. The American Lung Association this morning released its latest air report, showing that San Francisco has some pretty damn clean air. Not only did we "pass" our annual ... More >>

Pica Pica Brings Venezuelan Arepas And Other Staples to the Castro

Hugo Chavez is dead, but Venezuelan food lives on at Pica Pica Maize Kitchen, the second S.F. spot for Carácas cuisine. And it's far less polarizing than inflammatory anti-American rhetoric. In fact, it's delicious. If you can find it, that is. The nondescript Castro location is hidden in plain si ... More >>

Chevron Has Received $2.6 Billion in Tax-Free Bonds Since 2003

Qualified private activity bonds are low-interest, tax-exempt loans that the government issues on behalf of companies initiating projects with a "public purpose." It's roughly the same process that cities and states use to fund things like roads, parks, and schools. Except these benefit for-profit o ... More >>

Allegedly Unstable Man Locks Himself in Castro Gas Station, Causing Police Standoff

San Francisco police took a 30-year-old Livingston man into custody this afternoon after he had forced his way into a Chevron gas station and locked himself inside the clerk's office. Sgt. Michael Andraychak told us that at about 10:40 a.m., the man was at the gas station on the corner of Market a ... More >>

That Bright Light You Saw Last Night Wasn't a Meteor From Orion, Astronomers Say

If you were outdoors enjoying the unusually warm weather in the Bay Area last night, perhaps you experienced the other surprise: that really loud, bright boom that everyone is talking about (on the Internet, of course). Being that we are all eagerly awaiting the Orionid shower, which is happening th ... More >>

Our Most Corrupt Tax Breaks: 10 Loopholes to Close Right Now

No Glove, No Love

Boom or Doom: This Environmental Disaster Is No Gold Rush

Chevron Small Fire Quelled Minutes Before Larger Flame Sparked

A small flash fire lashed out and was extinguished about 13 minutes before the Chevron Richmond Refinery 4 Crude Unit became enflamed on Aug. 6, the company said. In its official 30-day follow-up notification report released Wednesday, the company said an insulated pipe in the 4 Crude Unit was notic ... More >>

Chevron Opens Another Help Center So Angry Residents Can Collect Money

People have been flooding Chevron with claims after the Aug. 6 refinery fire, enough so that the oil company yesterday opened a second help center where burned residents (not literally) can go demand money. Here's what we know: The new claims center is located at North Richmond Community Heritage Se ... More >>

Chevron Fire: Richmond Residents File Lawsuit Against Oil Company

"If there's somethin' strange in your neighborhood...If it's somethin' weird an it won't look good; Who ya gonna call?" Ghotsbusters? No. When heaps of smoke, ash, and fumes from the nearby Chevron Refinery enveloped their neighborhood, Richmond residents naturally called Attorney John Burris to le ... More >>

Not Surprisingly, San Francisco Gas Prices Are Officially the Highest in State

Gas prices across the nation increased 18 cents over the past two weeks, with fuel costs hitting hardest in California, particularly in San Francisco, where prices peaked at $4.06 per gallon. California prices increased 23 cents, which means the average driver is shelling out $3.99 per gallon for re ... More >>

Chevron Says Bay Area Air Is Safe After Refinery Fire

We already gave you the bad news today: Gas prices are ridiculously high, in part because of the Chevron fire last week. But there is some good news you can take in. Contrary to what you saw last Monday -- plumes of black smoke hanging in the air -- Chevron says you can go ahead and take a deep brea ... More >>

Chevron Opens Help Center for Angry Residents to Start Collecting Money

If you are one of those unfortunate Richmond residents who was burned (figuratively speaking) by the Chevron Refinery fire, you can start claiming your cash tomorrow. Chevron officials say they are opening up a Help Center at the Nevin Community Center at 9 a.m. sharp. "The claims process has ... More >>

Chevron Hosts Fiery Town Hall Meeting

As expected, hundreds of pissed-off Richmond residents flooded a Town Hall meeting last night where they were reportedly more raging than the black plumes of toxic smoke that blanketed the community Monday night. Residents have every right to be furious, and Chevron officials will be the first to ad ... More >>

Another Fire at Chevron Refinery Today

This morning, a small secondary fire ignited near the controlled burn at the scene of Monday's Chevron Refinery, according to refinery officials. The secondary fire sparked around 11:15 a.m. near the initial fire location, however, firefighters acted quickly and extinguished it within minutes, and ... More >>

Chevron Fire: Massive Refinery Blaze Might Mean Higher Gas Prices for Us

The good news is the Chevron fire is out and the order for East Bay folks to remain indoors has been lifted. The bad news is, there's a good chance gasoline prices are probably going to make us gag today.Chevron's 240,000-barrel-a-day refinery has reportedly closed down production units after the fi ... More >>

Fire Roaring at Chevron Refinery in Richmond (Update)

Update (9:45 p.m.): BART officials say all stations have been reopened except for Richmond.Update (9:35 p.m.): News outlets are reporting that tons of people are flooding emergency rooms complaining of breathing problems. Update (9:17 p.m.): Chevron officials just held a short news conference, sayin ... More >>

America's Petro-Terrorists: How Speculators Drove Up Oil Prices

PG&E Pipeline Pressure Surges Are a Real Threat

PG&E is starting to feel some unwanted pressure over its gas pipelines. The company is being asked to be much more transparent following a federal directive requiring all utilities to maintain and report instances of pressure surges along their gas pipelines. That might be a tall order for ... More >>

"Payback": Overambitious Doc Explores Modern Debt

How Bay Area Corporations Resemble Their (Human) Neighbors

When S.F. Gas Price Skyrocket, Just Blame Iran

​As Billy Beane taught us, you probably can't trust your instincts without cold hard statistics to back them up. So for anyone who suspected that gasoline prices might be rising with Icarusian ferver, your intuitions have been vindicated. On Monday AAA released their monthly report on America's f ... More >>

Ex-Chevron Employee Sues Company Over "Hurt Feelings"

​Another dirty scandal is plaguing Chevron, but this one has nothing to do with polluting the Amazon. A judge overturned a jury's $100,000 award to a former Chevron employee who had sued the oil and gas company for gossiping about his passion for prostitution.According to court documents filed in ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

Vegan Drag Queen Cooking Shows, Wool Free Winter Coat Pop-up in the Mission, & Cookies!

​ • You know how nobody in San Francisco has any style? Well, this weekend you can attempt to buy some! Vaute Couture is bringing its cute-ass wool-free winter coats of sexiness to a pop-up shop at VegNews' offices in the Mission! You'll get to try on Vaute's brand-new 2011 collection of smart ... More >>

"The Last Mountain": Documentary Confirms That Coal Mining Is Pretty Crappy

Big Coal's Black Heart

Hillary Clinton Sued by S.F. Environmental Group Over Alleged Oil Pipeline Project Bias

Playing favorites?​Environmental groups are going after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, worried that she's allowing Washington lobbyists close to her get away with building a massive oil pipeline from Canada to Texas.Friends of the Earth, a nonprofit with offices in Washington, D.C. and San Fr ... More >>

Apple, at $153 Billion, Unseats Google as World's Most Valuable Brand

Secret weapon​A surge in estimated valuation from sales of products such as the iPad has landed Apple at the top of a survey of the world's most valuable brands, displacing fellow Silicon Valley juggernaut Google.Financial-research company Millward Brown set the company's current brand value at $1 ... More >>

BP Accused of Manipulating Gas Prices and Fuel Supplies

Gasholes are everywhere!​Last week, we told SF Weekly readers about Safeway being accused of predatory pricing when selling fuel. Now gas stations are suing BP, accusing the oil giant of manipulating supplies for a bigger profit. In the class action lawsuit filed last week in San Francisco, the le ... More >>

The New Yorker: Chron Tech Blogger, Yobie Benjamin, Confuses Water with Industrial Poison

Dihydrogen monoxide can kill within minutes of entering a victim's lungs.​Last summer, San Francisco Chronicle citizen blogger Yobie Benjamin covered the waterfront, denouncing perceived failures in BP's oil-spill cleanup, including its penchant for using the then-controversial oil dispersant, Cor ... More >>

Chevron Sues To Guard Secrets on How to Prevent Oil Blowouts

Why should preventing catastrophes be a secret?​After the BP oil spill devastated the Gulf of Mexico, you would expect that a prominent oil company like Chevron would want consumers to trust its ability to prevent such blowouts. Yet the San Ramon oil company, is suing Scribd, a San Francisco docum ... More >>

Chevron Punked With 'Yes Men'-Produced Attack Ad

You think that looks like a real Chevron ad? We agree. ​An apparent Chevron ad campaign decrying the oil giant's years of polluting Third World locales and pledging to change its ways was the spitting image of the real thing. But Scrooge-like changes of heart are only for the movies. The San Ramon ... More >>

Bay Area Capitalists Outspending Big Oil in Last Stretch of Prop. 23 Battle

No longer so menacing​So much for the titans of the petroleum industry using their profits to bend voters and politicians to their will. It turns out the out-of-state oil companies behind the campaign to pass Proposition 23 -- the ballot initiative that would suspend California's landmark 2006 law ... More >>

Chevron 'Dirty Tricks' Operative Diego Borja Targeted by Ecuador

Diego Borja reportedly has the goods on Chevron. Will he give them up? ​ A fantastic case involving multinational oil corporations, myriad allegations of mass corruption, clandestine videos filmed with items purchased from the Sky Mall catalog, and, incongruously, the sleepy nearby suburb of San R ... More >>

Is Chevron's Richmond Refinery 'Tour' a PR Stunt Connected to Expansion Plans?

Chevron's Richmond refinery​Chevron is facing serious criticism of its alleged efforts to evade state environmental laws and push through a proposed expansion of its oil refinery in Richmond. Faced with the opposition of environmental activists and some state legislators, is it a surprise that the ... More >>

Art Review: Eileen David: "Recent Paintings"

SF Weekly Letters

Boycott of Alberta Urged By San Francisco's 'Corporate Ethics.' Canadians Pissed, Eh?

That's not maple syrup​Corporate Ethics International, a rabble-rousing San Francisco environmental nonprofit, on Thursday launched a campaign urging a boycott of Alberta in protest of the Canadian province's oil sands petroleum extraction project. The group has erected a billboard in Seattle comp ... More >>

Top Five BP Oil Spill Conspiracies

You see? You see who's benefiting?​The Deep Water Horizon's ongoing ruination of the Gulf Coast is one of the worst accidents in the history of humanity. But wait! Some people -- as some people always do -- aren't willing to concede this was an accident. This was ... a conspiracy! Here's five that ... More >>

Sweet Relief from the Stink

Bouncer drinks to forget the oil leak at Kezar Bar & Grill.

Bay Area Ambient Musician Releases Angry Track About Oil Spill, Tony Hayward

​It's called "Deepwater Horizon," in fact, and includes snippets of BP's Tony Hayward coldly muttering about, "I want my life back." Asked by his label for a statement on the work, East Bay artist TransFranciscCo (a/k/a Jim Strider), said: "I suppose I could write something ... but if you don't al ... More >>

Protest Party to Boycott BP, Shut Down ARCO Entrance

It's about to get crazy up in this joint!​Party at the gas station! Approximately 150 guests are confirmed to attend the "ARCO/BP Shut Down Party" on the corner of Fell Street and Divisadero Street at 5:30 p.m. Organized by a group of friends, this party is actually a three-pronged environmental p ... More >>

Crude

Fortunate Sun

The Mother Lode

Bow to the King

Or, why we love Barry Bonds, even when he's a royal Jerk

Side Dish

Danko Schön, Pho Free, Hot Seat, Smoke 'Em If Ya Got 'Em, Out of the Hole