Search Results

One-hundred-ninety-five nations reached an agreement in Paris this month. Interestingly, the landmark international accord draws a big fat highlight (and maybe a circle and some stars in the margin) across the work that activists and leaders are doing in the Pacific Northwest: not just the work to keep fossil fuels in the ground and make polluters pay for their pollution, but also our work to reduce the influence of money...

Serena The excellent local blog Seattlish called out a KIRO Radio host for poking fun at folks who use public transit in their dating endeavors (as part of an argument against the city’s smart new restricted parking zones). Seattlish then proceeded to crowdsource a bunch of sweet stories about people who used public transit and car2go and other rad car-free urban modes to find romance. Awesome. And I’m happy to...

‘Tis the giving season! This week, we at Sightline share our favorite charities in Cascadia and beyond. We hope this helps inspire your end-of-year giving. Enjoy!  Alan To me, perhaps the single most egregious failing of the United States (among several) is that ten times as many people with schizophrenia and other forms of severe mental illness are locked in prison as are in psychiatric hospitals and other residential recovery facilities. My favorite...

In its 2015 report, the Oregon Global Warming Commission offers the Oregon legislature a path towards transforming the state’s economy and meeting its statutory global warming pollution limits. Its scenario for meeting the state’s emissions limits looks like Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixin’s: a price on pollution, plus a package of complementary clean energy, energy efficiency, and transportation policies. The Commission, which includes representatives from the environmental community alongside the CEOs of Portland...

If you’re like me, you’re usually unable to come up for air during the whirlwind months leading up to the holiday season. A few days ago though, I ditched my desk for a hike up Bandera Mountain. As I made my way along the meandering trail, I was struck by the vibrant display of changing leaves and fading wildflowers. The wind picked up and a familiar fall chill set in,...

Editor’s Note September 2016: Washington state’s democracy reform initiative, which aims to put everyday people back in control of government, is swinging into high gear as the November elections inch closer. But how does big money get into politicians’ pockets in the first place? Here’s our quick and easy primer. Political donations are a tangled web. Convoluted with layers of cryptic reporting categories and disclosure requirements, the public’s understanding of money in politics is...

Kristin As if we needed more evidence that poverty is really, really bad: it impairs your mind. Great. Now you can’t pay your bills or put food on the table and you are dumber, to boot. Hey, I have a good idea: let’s give everyone in the richest country on earth a basic income, which will save money on all the band-aids we currently use to plaster over the simple...

Nick A new map from Pembina Institute highlights over 14,000 jobs from clean energy in B.C.​ and allows users to explore 156 renewable energy projects currently in operation or under construction. This first phase of the map specifically examines jobs from clean energy supply; the next phases will examine the bigger clean energy picture, including jobs in energy efficiency, green buildings, and clean transportation. Serena “There was a wreck on the highway—and the wreck is...

Author’s note: Some folks in the Oregon legislature have been fretting about falsehoods lately. I wrote this up to help inform a hearing on climate bills in Salem on April 14th. Oregonians are already paying for climate change, through damaged shellfish, lost snowpack, and increased wildfires. Climate models predict that, without urgent action, the Oregon drought could morph into something like the California mega-drought. It’s time to act. Don’t let...