There was an explosion this morning on the Vermilion Oil Rig 380, 80 miles south of Vermilion Bay along the central Louisiana coast, west of the site of the Deep Water Horizon blast. 13 workers were rescued by the Coast Guard, with only one seriously injured. The rig is owned by Houston-based Mariner Energy, and it's unclear whether it was a drilling rig or production platform. [CNN, NPR] more ›

Although Newsom touts an excessively green platform -- take, for example, his appointment of a Greening Director, the single most bullshit-heavy job title since Social Media Consultant -- Matier & Ross report that our eco-mayor and his eco-wife "invested in BP's gulf oil rig." Say it ain't so! OK, it's not so. Well, not really, anyway. Newsom and Siebel invested in Transocean Inc., a company that manufactured, among numerous other things, the busted oil rig rented by BP. more ›

While Karl Rove calls it Obama's Katrina, more reasonable minds are actually doing something about the hellacious BP oil spill. Take, for example, San Francisco and more than 180 California-based Coast Guard personnel headed to the Gulf of Mexico to aid in clean-up efforts. The Aspen, a 225-foot cutter, departed Yerba Buena Island yesterday to help out with the seemingly insurmountable task. more ›

The Deepwater Horizon spill is a "a massive ongoing oil spill stemming from a sea floor oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico that started with a suspicious oil well blowout on April 20, 2010." As of today, the spill covers at least 2,500 square miles of ocean surface. Which is massive. Bigger than the Bay Area, in fact. more ›

Remember when that big boat rammed into the Bay Bridge? And birds died? Fish went belly-up? And we all rightfully freaked out? And certain parties were justly charged in the accident? Well, the operator of the Cosco Busan, Fleet Management Ltd. of Hong Kong, was indicted today on on six felony counts and two misdemeanor charges of negligence, fabricating records, and almost permanently mucking up our beautiful bay. Last year's ruinous oil spill killed over 2,000 birds cost upwards of $60 million to clean up. (SFGate) more ›

Crown State Memorial Beach Park in Alameda closed down after "quarter-sized tar balls and an oil sheen" were found along the shoreline, stretching about half-mile long. No one knows yet where the oil is coming from, but many have speculated that it stems from the Cosco Busan (which, as you may remember, dumped over 58,000 gallons of oil in the SF Bay last year.) more ›

We're a tenth of a penny away from $5 a gallon for REGULAR gas, y'all. Very exciting. more ›

Although the National Transportation Safety Board has yet to release its report on the causes of last year's crash, today the pilot of the Cosco Busan, John Joseph Cota of Petaluma, was charged in federal court. The feds, it seems, found him in violation of two federal laws when he accidentally steered the container ship into the Bay Bridge on November 9 2007, which then released 53,000 gallons of oil into the bay. more ›

According to the Coast Guard, "a barge has hit the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge" around 6 p.m. this evening. Yikes! The barge, reportedly carrying 63,000 barrels of heavy black oil, hit the east piling of the west span. So far there are no reports of any injuries or leakage. more ›

Like the bad ass she is, occasional San Francisco resident and current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has written to the "Homeland Security Department's inspector general requesting an investigation of preparation for and response to last month's oil spill in San Francisco Bay," according to CBS 5. In a wordy missive to Inspector General Skinner, she fired off over a dozen issues she wants taken care of right-quick. A couple of points she needs to... more ›

Gavin wants your fat. According to Renewable Energy Access, yesterday our dear Mayor implemented a new program that will collect fats, oil, and grease from the city restaurants free of charge.Why? So that they can be to turn into biofuel to power city-owned vehicles. The program is called SFGreasecycle. Ew. But: awesome. Said fat and oil, when poured down the drain, "solidifies into thick layers inside drainpipes and sewer pipes, constricting water flow the... more ›

Audet & Partners, LLP filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of commercial fishers and crab-based (?) businesses in San Francisco on November 20. Today on their site they claim the following, "Breaking News: Cosco Busan Vessel Arrested." Which? Okay then. We have yet to see footage of the vessel getting cuffed by the fuzz with its shirt off, and we can't imagine it heard its Miranda rights being read, but seeing as how... more ›

What started out yesterday morning as a PG-13, innocent little fender bender has now turned into our very own R-rated environmental disaster. Smashing. Here's a summary of today's oil spill-related chaos, followed by volunteering and clean-up information. -- Today Gavin Newsom sent down word from wherever he's recovering from his hangover -- we kid. sort of -- that SF will get litigious on the agency or persons responsible for the 58,000 gallons of oil... more ›

Oh man, are you kidding? This is terrible. Not to get all tugging-the-heart strings today, but this spill is much worse than initially reported yesterday. This oil covered bird above was found at Fort Baker cove in Sausalito today. It seems that the Marin Headlands are getting crazy sloshed with oil on their shores. (The aerial shots of the spill on SFGate are jaw-dropping.) A Golden Gate National Recreation Area ranger claims that the... more ›

But, and we hate to admit it, they sure do look pretty together. (The image above has been set as our desktop background!) But as attractive as oil and water looks on rain-soaked driveways and in Carmel-y art pieces, it's not worth it when it's in our Bay. It tends to cause inexcusable damage. (Where, like, fish and mermaids and stuff totally die, you know.) Take, for example, this morning's container ship that rammed... more ›