By Erik Lacitis Pacific NW magazine writer Postscripts 2023: Catching up with some of this year’s cover story subjects. AMID OUR COMPLAINTS about this or that being wrong with Seattle, we locals can forget why this is a truly magnificent city. So thank you, tourists. In June, I wrote a story about the most-asked questions tourists have when
NASA and Boeing chase jet contrails with science of climate impact in doubt
By Dominic Gates Seattle Times aerospace reporter Scientific debate is getting heated over what to do about airplane contrails — the wispy lines of water vapor you often see trailing behind a jet. Those harmless-looking vapor trails sometimes spread out to form thin cirrus clouds. Environmental activists and nonprofits focused on climate change routinely assert
Letting people work from home is good for companies’ revenue growth
By Matthew Boyle Bloomberg Companies that allow remote work have experienced revenue growth that’s four times faster than those that are more stringent about office attendance, a new survey shows, adding fuel to the debate over productivity and performance in today’s workplaces. The analysis of 554 public companies that employ a collective 26.7 million people
WA’s largest oil refinery ramps up cleaner fuels as climate laws take hold
By Isabella Breda Seattle Times staff reporter CHERRY POINT, Whatcom County — Thick steam billowed from a series of towers and pipes, intricately woven together to form a powerhouse of the region’s energy production and Washington’s largest oil refinery. BP’s Cherry Point facility, which belched more than 2 million metric tons of climate-warming gases into
Port of Seattle Commissioner candidates on climate, fiscal discipline
By Renata Geraldo Seattle Times business reporter Voters will soon decide on a key position at the Port of Seattle Commission, which manages the Port and leads policies that shape the future of one of Puget Sound’s main economic engines. For Commissioner Position No. 5, King County voters will choose between incumbent Fred Felleman, seeking
Will high gas prices derail WA’s climate policy?
By Conrad Swanson Seattle Times climate reporter Nobody was quite sure how life would change for Washingtonians when lawmakers passed the state’s landmark climate policy in 2021. But in the nine months since the state started charging polluters, one thing has become increasingly clear: the sticker shock. A nearly $1.5 billion price tag — so
The secret dispute behind cleaning Seattle’s only river
By Lulu Ramadan Seattle Times staff reporter This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network and The Seattle Times, with support from the Investigative Journalism Fund. Sign up for Seattle Times newsletters and alerts and ProPublica’s Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published. Times Watchdog stories dig deep to hold power accountable, right wrongs and
How airlines hide the true cost of travel — and how to avoid hidden fees
By Christopher Elliott Special to The Seattle Times Travel Troubleshooter When Carolyn DiDonato booked her ticket from Trenton, N.J., to Fort Myers, Fla., she says she was hit with a hidden airline fee. On the last screen, concealed behind a drop-down menu, Frontier Airlines revealed that she would have to pay a nonrefundable $23 carrier
Senator wants to reroute flights away from Southwest Boise, where he lives
By KEVIN FIXLER McClatchy Washington Bureau WASHINGTON — Twice each decade, Congress approves a bill to fund and set the policies for the federal agency that oversees the nation’s air travel. This year, one airport was singled out in a standalone section marked “miscellaneous” in the Senate version of the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act.
Return-to-office is a $1.3 trillion problem few have figured out
By Matthew Boyle Bloomberg News In the emerging post-pandemic era, most aspects of life have returned to normal. Moviegoers are flocking to cinemas, vacationers jammed airports for summer travel and kids are returning to classrooms. The one thing that has remained stubbornly fraught: the world of work. Three and a half years after millions of