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Researching the region’s most pressing sustainability challenges

We provide citizens and decision-makers with the policy analysis and practical tools they need to advance an economy and way of life that are environmentally sound, economically vibrant, and socially just.

Our Work

All Sightline Institute research is available to you to cite, use, and share, per our free use policy.

Democracy + Elections

Alaska’s Midterm Elections Yield Mixed Results (But in a Good Way)

In the state’s first full ranked choice election, the same pool of voters elected candidates from across the political spectrum.
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Housing + Cities

Anchorage Assembly Unites to End Parking Mandates

Progressives and conservatives find common ground on easing regulations on housing and business development.
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Housing + Cities

BC Election Results Show Public Support for More Homes

While the most pro-housing parties didn’t win big support from voters, they pulled the conversation toward a more housing-abundant policy future for the province.
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Farms + Forests

Uncontainable Wildfires Are Inevitable. Community Destruction Is Not.

Five policy shifts could help communities harden their homes against fire danger.
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Democracy + Elections

The Democracy Reforms Coming to Cascadia

A week after Election Day, we round up the region’s ballot measures and ranked choice contests.
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Democracy + Elections

Alaska Primary Voters Had More Choice in 2022

A larger, more diverse, and competitive candidate pool coincided with the introduction of open primaries and ranked choice voting.
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Northwest Climate Goals Are at Odds with a Few State Energy Efficiency Rules

Sightline recommends targeted fixes to Oregon and Washington utility incentives
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Supercharging Cascadian Decarbonization

Four antidotes for the poison pill in Northwest energy building finance laws.
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Washington State Leads the Nation on Climate Action

Decades of organizing and political leadership finally paid off
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Climate Action in the Courts

Two lawsuits seek to hold corporations responsible for the extraction and promotion of fossil fuels.
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The Smoke and Mirrors Defense of RNG

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The Four Fatal Flaws of Renewable Natural Gas

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All You Need to Know About Alaska’s 2022 Special Election

FAQs on the extra-special special election.
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Abundant Housing Requires Abundant Democracy

Candace Avalos (Verde Portland, Neighbors Welcome board member), Jeannette Lee (Sightline Institute), and moderator Alex Zielinski (Portland Mercury) discuss electoral reforms in Alaska and Portland, and their potential to affect housing policy.
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Political Leadership for Abundant Housing

St. Paul councilmember Mitra Jalali, Former Oregon House Speaker and gubernatorial candidate Tina Kotek, Washington state representative Jessica Bateman, and moderator Conor Dougherty (New York Times) discuss housing advocacy at local and state levels and how focusing on real people and their stories can unite coalitions around a common cause.
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Portland Charter Commission Unanimously Advances Reform Proposals in Preliminary Vote

Voters could approve changes to the city’s elections and form of government this November.
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Some of the Big Questions Left for Portland’s Charter Commission

The commission has a few loose ends to sew up before proposing ballot measures.
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Our Maps Shouldn’t Lie About Our Votes

County-based red and blue breakdowns show numbers of acres, not voters. But in a democracy, it’s the people that should count.
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Four Ways Context Matters for Wildfire News Coverage

Reporters can help people see the forest, even when the trees are on fire.
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Blazing a Trail: The Vital Role of Wildfire Hazard Maps

Sophisticated and high-resolution maps such as Oregon’s are essential tools for thriving in a fiery future.
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What’s Misunderstood about Indigenous Cultural Fire Is Sovereignty

Lessons from the Karuk Tribe.
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Oregon’s Land Use Law Creates Wildfire-Adapted Communities

Bend residents have shown us how.
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The Best Wildfire Solution We’re Not Using

Three ways to curb the sprawl that traps us on a wildfire treadmill.
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We’re Stuck on a Wildfire Treadmill

And to escape, we need more fire, not less.
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Parking Reform Alone Can Boost Homebuilding by 40 to 70 Percent

More evidence that parking flexibility is key to housing abundance.
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Three Ways Anchorage Leaders Could Unlock More Homes

The ordinances under consideration offer commonsense solutions to address the city’s longstanding housing shortage.
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Parking Mandates Are Keeping Kids Out of Daycare

But cities can ditch these arbitrary rules and help families out of the daycare desert.
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In Race after Race, People Keep Electing Pro-Housing Politicians

Contrary to some misconceptions, most voters seem to understand that housing is good.
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To Fix Inclusionary Zoning, Fund It

Lessons from places that are solving the biggest problem in abundant housing politics and policy.
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Vancouver Shows Just How Much it Costs to Ban Apartments

Driving problems from inequality to sprawl to pollution, restrictions against anything but single-detached houses have to go.
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Video: Housing Solutions Are Climate Solutions

In 90 seconds, how zoning for more home choices in our cities helps affordability and cuts climate pollution.
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Poll: Washington Voters Out Ahead Of Local Leaders On Zoning Reforms

Statewide survey shows broad voter receptivity—across partisan, demographic, and geographic lines—to zoning changes to allow more homes like duplexes and small apartment buildings.
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Video: Zoning for All Kinds of Affordable Homes

Cities need all kinds of affordability, both subsidized housing and naturally affordable, modest-sized, market-rate homes.
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Recipes for Successful Abundant Housing Communications

In this panel discussion, three expert communicators share how they’ve crafted compelling narratives, engaged coalitions, and garnered press attention for housing affordability and climate policy.
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How to Tear Down the Invisible Walls in Your City’s Zoning Code

10 tips for zoning reformers from a town that legalized housing.
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Americans Want to Vote As Trump Does (By Mail), Not As He Says

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Sightline news picks

Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.

Cut through the noise and get the news you can use. Sightline editors—real people—hand-pick headlines from 150+ outlets to keep you on top of the stories shaping our region’s communities, economy, and environment. Reader favorite; formerly known as Sightline Daily. 

Sightline weekly

Saturday mornings.

Only have a few minutes each week? Our weekly wrap-up delivers the latest Sightline research and solutions, plus top headlines to keep movers and shakers in the know. 

Sightline month in review

End of the month.

Get a month’s worth of solutions research and key headlines, plus a personal note from a Sightline team member connecting the dots and putting our work into the larger news context. 

Issue insights from Sightline experts

Hear directly from our team of experts. They take you on a deeper dive into Sightline’s solutions, translating their latest analysis and sharing behind-the-scenes context for the research—as well as what to watch for next. Delivered about monthly.

Housing + Cities

Parking, zoning, sprawl, pollution, property rights, commutes, rents, and home prices—they all intersect where a legacy of exclusionary rules and regulations restrict homebuilding and fuel our housing shortage. Hear from Dan Bertolet, Catie Gould, Michael Andersen, and others exploring solutions for low-carbon, affordable, accessible cities and towns.  

Climate + Energy

From electrification to decarbonization, carbon pricing to grid upgrades, Emily Moore and team decode the policy solutions to power a greener, more equitable, and robust economy for the region’s future.  

Democracy + Elections

Protecting voter choice and voice with clear-eyed, independent analysis and models of success—Alan Durning, Jay Lee, Shannon Grimes, Al Vanderklipp, and others send you the latest elections solutions and opportunities, from Alaska to Oregon and inland to Montana and Idaho. 

Farms + Forests

Where sustainability meets stewardship of our natural resources and food systems. Get dispatches from actual farms and forests—and the policy discussions that determine their health and climate impacts. 

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