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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

No, Approval Voting Would Not Start Sooner than Ranked Choice Voting in Seattle

Either one would likely launch in August 2025.
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Democracy + Elections

What Peltola’s Win Can Teach Alaska (and America)

Lesson #1: The electorate is not binary.
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Democracy + Elections

Compare Cheney and Murkowski’s Political Fates—It’s All About the Primary

Forget the general election for a moment. It’s how we run primary elections that decides who’s even a contender.
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Housing + Cities

Can Anchorage Bring Back the Triplex?

A design competition identified the key barriers to expanding great multifamily options in Alaska’s largest city.
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Democracy + Elections

Approval Voting Is a Risky Prospect for Seattle

It’s a novice system when it comes to real-world elections, where ranked choice voting is a battle-tested pro.
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Democracy + Elections

San Juan County (WA) Council Blocks Ranked Choice Voting and Other Charter Amendments from November Ballot

In a setback for county residents and democracy reforms sprouting up across Cascadia, Councilors claimed without explanation that the amendments did not comply with provisions of the Charter.
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How Governor Inslee Can Rebalance Washington’s Utility Decarbonization Bill

HB 1589 favors investors over ratepayers—and state climate goals. A section veto would go a long way to fix the bill.
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180 Sites Account for a Quarter of Cascadia’s Carbon Pollution

The region has a lot more cleaning up to do, even in its greenest corners.
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Is the Permitting Process for Transmission Lines Really Broken?

Analyzing three common claims of malfunction, plus proposing a new, faster way forward for the Northwest.
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Who Will Pay for Cascadia’s Transmission Lines?

The multibillion-dollar question that Senator Maria Cantwell, Governor Jay Inslee, and other Northwest leaders can help answer.
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Why Is It So Hard to Build New Transmission Lines?

For starters, Cascadia has no plan.
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Without Gas, What Business Models Could Gas Utilities Pursue?

Several examples exist, and Cascadian policymakers can encourage shifts while setting guardrails to protect customers.
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Summer Recap: Changing Portland’s City Charter

Where ballot measure 26-228’s reforms stand, less than two months from Election Day.
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When Cities Switch To One-Winner Council Districts, Housing Growth Plummets

Housing growth drops 20 percent, on average, in cities making the sort of switch proposed by Portland’s Commissioner Mapps.
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In Seattle, Courts Might Reject Approval Voting . . .

. . . but not Ranked Choice Voting.
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No, Approval Voting Would Not Start Sooner than Ranked Choice Voting in Seattle

Either one would likely launch in August 2025.
Read More

What Peltola’s Win Can Teach Alaska (and America)

Lesson #1: The electorate is not binary.
Read More

Compare Cheney and Murkowski’s Political Fates—It’s All About the Primary

Forget the general election for a moment. It’s how we run primary elections that decides who’s even a contender.
Read More

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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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