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Less than two hours after Kamala Harris was named Joe Biden’s running mate, President Donald Trump had cast the California Democrat as an oil industry and fracking foe. “She is against fracking. She’s against petroleum products,” Trump said at a White House news conference Tuesday. “I mean, how do you do that and go into

This was one of a series of high-profile fossil-fuel projects proposed in Washington state in recent years, all of which have faced strong opposition from environmentalists. By Hal Bernton, Seattle Times staff reporter | Originally published February 27, 2018 at 2:09 pm | Updated February 28, 2018 at 10:04 am Vancouver Energy is ending a four-year quest to

Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement Monday that he agreed with the recommendation of a state energy panel, which voted in November to deny the application of the Vancouver Energy project. By Phuong Le, The Associated Press • Originally published January 29, 2018 at 9:41 am | Updated January 29, 2018 at 4:29 pm SEATTLE

By Dameon Pesanti, Columbian staff writer OLYMPIA — The plan to build the largest rail-to-marine oil terminal in the United States suffered a major blow Tuesday at the hands of the state body tasked with its evaluation. Barely five minutes into a special meeting at the state Capitol, the Washington State Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council

By Pete Danko – Staff Reporter, Portland Business Journal The developer and opponents offered diametrically differing views of a final environmental review of the proposed Vancouver Energy oil terminal, released Tuesday, a week ahead of a long-awaited recommendation on the controversial project from Washington’s Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council. In a presentation in Olympia, EFSEC staff said a Final Environmental Impact

Three (or 10 or 12, or maybe 40?) factors… What happened in Benicia was amazing. It’s well worth our time as community activists and organizers to reflect a bit on how David went up against Goliath and won. I was there from the beginning in this Benicia episode, so I have a story to tell.

By Donna Beth Weilenman • Martinez News Gazette Benicia City Council has unanimously denied a use permit for the controversial Valero Crude-By-Rail project, citing a federal board decision as well as a June 3 derailment that spilled 42,000 gallons of crude oil and caused a fire that burned 14 hours.But the matter didn’t end Tuesday

BENICIA — Environmentalists hoping to defeat Benicia’s crude-by-rail project scored a huge victory Tuesday night, handing Valero Refining Company a significant defeat in the process. In a unanimous decision from Mayor Elizabeth Patterson and the City Council, Valero’s application for a conditional use permit for a crude oil off-loading facility was denied. Vicki Dennis, who moved to

By Tony Bizjak | UPDATED SEPTEMBER 21, 2016 3:28 PM The Benicia City Council on Tuesday unanimously rejected a controversial plan by the Valero Refining Co. to ship crude oil aboard trains through Sacramento and other Northern California cities to its bayside refinery. The 5-0 vote, taken after four years of bitter debate, represents a

Go inside the trial of Tesoro-Savage, a crude oil shipping terminal proposed for the banks of the Columbia River. By Kristen Boyles & Janette Brimmer | Northwest Office When is a proposed project too risky, too much of a roll of the dice? Put another way, how much risk should communities and the environment be expected to bear

By Kirk Johnson | July 31, 2016 MOSIER, Ore. — The Chinook salmon that Randy Settler and other Yakama tribal fishermen are pulling from the Columbia River are large and plentiful this summer, part of one of the biggest spawning runs since the 1960s. It is a sign, they say, of the river’s revitalization, through pollution

Merits, risks continue to be weighed at adjudication hearings for Vancouver Energy proposal. By Brooks Johnson, Columbian Business Reporter | Published: July 16, 2016, 5:22pm The bells rang on the first round of oil terminal hearings this week as opponents started calling witnesses in the trial-like process guiding the fate of the Tesoro Corp. and Savage Cos. proposal.

By Tony Bizjak, April 14, 2016 4:29 PM • Updated April 15, 2016 7:21 AM California Attorney General Kamala Harris weighed in on Benicia’s ongoing oil train debate on Thursday, arguing that the city has a legal right to reject a local refinery’s oil train plan and the obligation to review environmental risks. The debate involves

A controversial proposal by the Valero Refining Company in Benicia to run two 50-car crude-oil trains a day through Sacramento and other Northern California cities to its bayside refinery has hit another slowdown. Benicia officials on Tuesday said they have decided to redo some sections of an environmental impact analysis of the project. The city

By Kirk Johnson VANCOUVER, Wash. — Environmental passions, which run hot in the Northwest over everything from salmon to recycling, generally get couched in the negative: Don’t fish too much, don’t put those chemicals up the smokestack, don’t build in that sensitive area. But here in southern Washington, some environmental groups are quietly pushing a builder