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Sightline’s Spring Fund Drive Begins Today!
Each of us loves the natural places and communities in the Northwest for our own reasons. Maybe you’ve always called this place home, or perhaps you were drawn here—for the mountains, for love, for education, your career. All the same, you believe in sustainability solutions because you care about this place; the people you know and even the people you don’t know. Sightline works every day toward progress that protects everything—and everyone—we...Read more » -
Why You’re Still Not Bringing a Reusable Mug for Your Daily Coffee
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in 2016 but we’ve added this update about startup company Vessel, which is piloting a mug share program in Boulder, Colorado. Five coffee shops across the city have already signed up to participate. Participation is free for customers—they simply pick up their caffeine fix in a stainless steel, reusable mug at their participating café of choice and return it within five days to...Read more » -
25 Years Strong: Sightline’s Fall Fund Drive Begins Today
Twenty-five years ago this month, Sightline Institute began. Many of you reading these words were there with me. Many of you have watched Sightline (then Northwest Environment Watch) grow and evolve over the years. Some of you may be reading about Sightline for the first time today — welcome. No matter your path, gradually but unmistakably, over years and months, Sightline ceased to be a “me” or a “you.” It...Read more » -
When Polluters Pay, the Electricity Customer Profits
As I wrote about a few weeks ago, corporations have a long and storied history of “crying wolf” when people try to protect themselves from industrial pollution or safety hazards. Business interests also have a history of paying consultants to produce studies that “prove” the wolf is really there. For example, in 2017, Oregon Business & Industries (OBI) paid consultants to run a few models to conclude that climate action...Read more » -
When Polluters Pay, Oregon’s Rural Residents Win
In my last article, I described how making polluters pay for their pollution, contrary to fossil fuel industry whining and myth-telling, in fact would help Oregon’s economy—just as it has helped the economies of other states, provinces, and regions that have demanded that polluting industries do their part to act on climate. A common comeback I hear goes something like, “Sure, it may help urban dwellers and economies, but it...Read more » -
Part 2: Your Car of the Future is No Car at All
In part 1, I laid out the immense potential for good that Transportation as a Service (TaaS) offers. A future where most private cars give way to taxi rides provided by fleets of smart, autonomous, electric vehicles would be good for our health and safety, our pocketbooks, our economic competitiveness, our climate, and our local environment. But this promise comes with certain risks. They’re avoidable, but not without effort. Today:...Read more » -
Part 1: Your Car of the Future is No Car at All
Editor’s note: This piece marks the Sightline debut of Daniel Malarkey, our newest Sightline fellow. A Seattle native, Daniel will be writing about issues of infrastructure, technology and energy with a view towards sustainability. You can read his full bio here. Additionally, you can view his February appearance on Q13’s newscast here in which he speaks about the future of autonomous electric vehicles. Ford Motor Company recently had news for...Read more » -
Why You Might Like the Temporary Portland Gas Tax
If you live in Portland, you have your May ballot in hand. Don’t just pick a presidential candidate and mail it in. Keep going: past all those unopposed judicial positions, yes, all the way at the bottom of the second page you’ll find “Measure 26-173: Temporary Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax for Street Repair, Traffic Safety.” You might not know it from this well-below-the-fold placement, but it’s important for sustainability, livability,...Read more » -
Why You’re Still Not Bringing a Reusable Mug for Your Daily Coffee
What would you do to save a few pennies? Thirty to 45 percent of shoppers will remember their reusable grocery bags to save on a five-cent bag tax. Consumers will wash out and return 70 to 80 percent of recyclable bottles to cash in on bottle bill refunds. But fewer than two percent of coffee lovers will bring their own mugs to Starbucks to save a dime on their beverage....Read more » -
What If Polluters Paid and You Got the Money?
What if we could click our ruby slippers and transport ourselves to a magical place where polluters pay and we all get checks in the mail? The Oregon legislature is considering two bills that would take us there. When designing a program to make climate polluters pay, one of the most important decisions is what to do with the money. Northeast states and California invest in energy efficiency and transportation....Read more »