Economy & Jobs

For nearly six decades, Washington State has given away hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue through an “accidental” loophole with no clear public policy objective. Giving away millions to the state’s oil industry every year is hard to understand. At a time when the state is facing budget shortfalls and is trying to cut emissions, subsidizing Big Oil simply doesn’t add up. It’s for the legislature to decide whether we’ll close this loophole to help shore up the state budget or continue this hidden handout to oil companies. Read the factsheet here: .

Would-be coal exporter Ambre Energy faces mounting financial, regulatory and other challenges that make it highly unlikely that the company will deliver on its promises. read more »

Modern-day coal mining is highly mechanized and it employs relatively few workers, many of them non-union. In the Powder River Basin—home to the coal planned for export to Asia via the Northwest—coal miners are overwhelmingly non-unionized, and even less so in recent years. view graphic »

Modern-day coal mining is highly mechanized and it employs relatively few workers, many of them non-union. In the Powder River Basin—home to the coal planned for export to Asia via the Northwest—coal miners are overwhelmingly non-unionized. view graphic »

Modern-day coal mining is highly mechanized and it employs relatively few workers, many of them non-union. Economists at the University of Massachusetts’ Political Economy and Research Institute have shown it’s hard to make a worse jobs investment than coal. Sightline Institute converted the data to a viewer-friendly graph. view graphic »

A carbon tax would levy a charge on the CO2 emissions from fossil fuels purchased for combustion in the state, as well as on the carbon content of electricity imported from other states. In Washington, a carbon tax of $30 per ton of CO2 would net an estimated $2.3 billion each year. The proceeds could be used to reduce taxes on families and businesses, or to provide funding for transportation, clean energy technology, or public education. read more »

With US demand for coal plummeting, coal companies are looking to Asia to shore up sagging sales at home. Since 2011, several groups have launched ambitious plans to mine low-grade coal from Montana and Wyoming’s Powder River Basin and transport it by rail to ports in Oregon and Washington, where it will be shipped to overseas markets—particularly China. At full capacity, the proposed projects would send 140 million tons annually. The coal industry claims that Asia offers lucrative coal markets. Yet much of the available evidence is cautionary at best. Sightline’s memo, “US Coal Exports and Uncertainty in Asian Markets,” … read more »

Gasoline prices are high and volatile. Northwesterners are beginning to change their driving habits to adapt. Sightline’s report, Shifting into Reverse, shows that per capita vehicle travel has dropped significantly. view graphic »

Gasoline prices are high and volatile. Northwesterners are beginning to change their driving habits to adapt. Sightline’s report, Shifting into Reverse, shows that per capita gasoline consumption is at it’s lowest level in about 50 years. view graphic »

Gasoline prices are high and volatile. Northwesterners are beginning to change their driving habits to adapt. Sightline’s report, Shifting into Reverse, shows that per capita vehicle travel has dropped significantly. view graphic »