Alan Durning founded Sightline Institute in 1993. He contributed significantly to Sightline's effort to create a new regional index of progress, the Cascadia Scorecard and has led many of the organization's other successes.

Durning is author or co-author of more than ten Sightline books including This Place on Earth 2002: Measuring What Matters; This Place on Earth 2001: Guide to a Sustainable Northwest; This Place on Earth: Home and the Practice of Permanence (winner of the Governor’s Writers Award in 1996); The Car and the City; and Tax Shift;. Currently, he's also writing two series on Sightline's blog, "The Year of Living Car-lessly," and "Bike Neglect," both of which have influenced the local and national debate about urban transportation.

Prior to founding Sightline, Durning was a senior researcher at Worldwatch Institute in Washington, DC, where he studied the relationships between social and environmental issues. While at Worldwatch, Durning wrote How Much is Enough? The Consumer Society and the Future of the Earth (1992), which was translated into seven languages and given two awards. He also coauthored seven State of the World reports along with Worldwatch Papers on topics ranging from animal agriculture to indigenous peoples.

Durning’s articles have been published in over 100 periodicals, including the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, International Herald Tribune, Foreign Policy, Sierra, Utne Reader, and Technology Review. He publishes regularly in the Northwest press. In 1996, he was awarded a Building Economic Alternatives award by Co-op America for his work.

A sought-after keynote speaker, Durning has lectured at the White House, major universities, and numerous conferences. He consults with Northwest leaders on a variety of issues and serves on various advisory panels, such as the Sustainable Washington Advisory Panel, the (Seattle) Urban Sustainability Advisory Panel, the Washington Health Foundation’s Policy Board, and the advisory board of the Center for a New American Dream (where he was a founding board member). Durning holds a Bachelor of Arts with high honors, Phi Beta Kappa, from the Oberlin College and a Bachelor of Music, Pi Kappa Lambda, from the Oberlin Conservatory. He also holds a certificate in nonprofit leadership from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.

Durning lives in Seattle. He shares custody of three children--one in college and two teenagers--with their mother.