Seattle Times Corrects the Record

Anacortes Refinery (Walter Siegmund/wikimedia)

Two weeks ago, I criticized Seattle Times Olympia reporter Joseph O'Sullivan for reporting irrelevant spin about Republican Jinyoung Lee Englund's position on climate change, while entirely ignoring the actual impact of an Englund win on state climate policy. So it's only fair to point out that he did a much better job in a followup article that is formally about fundraising ($).

Suffice it to say that fossil fuel interests are not confused at all about the climate change stakes in this race:

In recent years, the GOP-held Senate has made sure that such Inslee proposals as a carbon cap-and-trade scheme and low-carbon fuel standards went nowhere. Inslee, meanwhile, has opposed a proposed Tesoro oil terminal in Vancouver, Washington.

Phillips 66, which owns a refinery in Ferndale, Whatcom County, has given $250,000 to a spending group supporting Englund called Citizens For Progress Enterprise Washington. A handful of oil companies have also contributed to Enterprise Washington's Jobs PAC.

Andeavor, which owns the Tesoro refinery in Anacortes, has given $290,000, which was split between Enterprise Washington's Jobs PAC and The Leadership Council.

Anyhow, credit where credit is due. O'Sullivan did a great job laying out the stakes in this election in Saturday's piece.