This week, I joined KBOO Community Radio‘s Barbara Bernstein for a wide-ranging conversation about how the coronavirus pandemic shapes our policymaking and may change our calculations about climate change. We talked about the profound challenges of the crisis, as well as the way it presents new opportunities for important policies like voting by mail and universal … Read more
In a surprise announcement, Washington Governor Jay Inslee cited his conscience when he came out in opposition to two major fracked gas infrastructure projects in his state: Tacoma LNG and Kalama methanol refining. The news, announced Wednesday, caught almost everyone by surprise, including the broad community of advocates that have been fighting the projects for … Read more
The Northwest has seen an onslaught of large-scale fossil fuel development schemes. From coal export terminals to refinery expansions to petrochemical projects, the industry aims to turn the region into a major center for dirty energy. But communities are fighting back. Amidst tremendous controversy, local elections around the Northwest are, increasingly often, becoming referendums on … Read more
There’s much ado about expansion plans for Canada’s Trans Mountain Pipeline, and with good reason: exporting tar sands oil through the Salish Sea poses huge spill risks to the region. Now there’s reason to think that Washington may see a giant pipeline expansion of its own. Kinder Morgan, an energy goliath with a checkered past, … Read more
Financial turmoil! Political opposition! Environmental intrigue! By any measure it’s been a momentous week for Northwest coal exports. Here’s the rundown: A political game-changer in British Columbia In the midst of a tight election battle, BC Premier Christy Clark radically changed the debate over coal exports in the province last Wednesday by asking Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin … Read more
As you may have heard, the Trump administration recently signed orders designed to pave the way for two controversial oil pipelines, Dakota Access (DAPL) and Keystone XL. Surprisingly, though, the main beneficiaries of this move may be Canadian, not American. This seems clear enough the case for the Keystone XL pipeline, which was explicitly designed to move … Read more
Editor’s Note August 2016: Last week during the Lummi Totem Pole Journey stop in Seattle, Sightline senior researcher Tarika Powell had the privilege of speaking alongside leaders from the Lummi Nation, Quinault Nation, White Swan Dakotas, and more, about the fight against coal, oil, and gas infrastructure in the Northwest. The ceremony brought together 300 people and strengthened connections between tribes, people … Read more
The 2016 Totem Pole Journey is underway and I will be speaking at the journey’s Blessing Stop in Seattle this Thursday. Join me to learn more about the multi-tiered wave of coal, oil, and natural gas export proposals that we have seen in the Pacific Northwest. Today our region faces crucial decisions about fossil fuels that will affect generations to … Read more
Editor’s note: This article was originally published by Yes! Magazine. There’s no such thing as a good place for an oil-train derailment, but this year’s June 3 spill outside Mosier, Oregon, could have been worse if the 16 oil cars had derailed and caught fire even a few hundred feet in either direction. The derailment was … Read more
Sightline is releasing a new report today—Unfair Market Value II: Coal Exports and the Value of Federal Coal—documenting massive exports of federally owned coal over the last decade. The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) sold private companies the right to mine this coal for a pittance—in some cases, for less than 20 cents per ton. … Read more
