Press

For immediate release: May 15, 2013 The combined coal, oil, and natural gas projects proposed in British Columbia and the American Northwest would, if built, be capable of delivering fossil fuels loaded with 761 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually (see chart below). A new report by Seattle-based think tank Sightline Institute, available online at sightline.org/FossilFuelsNorthwest, finds that the 16 new fossil fuel export proposals in the Pacific Northwest have a potential carbon footprint equivalent to: More than seven Keystone XL pipelines at initial build-out Twelve times as much as all the climate-warming gases emitted in British Columbia More … read more »

Ambre Energy, an Australian company that is currently touting plans for a pair of controversial coal export terminal sites in Washington and Oregon, faces mounting financial, regulatory and other challenges that make it unlikely to deliver on its promises in the U.S., according to a new report for the nonprofit Sightline Institute. read more »

For immediate release: August 29, 2012 Read the report. Seattle, WA – As northwesterners head to the pump for Labor Day, a new report shows our appetite for gasoline a waning. After more than a decade of rising and volatile prices at the gas pump, northwesterners’ consumption of motor fuel is now on the decline. But high oil prices meant that the region still spent a record $22 billion on petroleum in 2011. Last year, each resident of Oregon and Washington burned an average of 7.2 gallons of gas per week—the lowest level in nearly 50 years. And per capita … read more »

Through boom and bust, and despite steady population growth, total gasoline consumption in Oregon and Washington has remained essentially flat since 1999, according to a new report from Sightline Institute. Yet the two states still spent $16.6 billion on petroleum in 2010 and are on track to spend as much as $22 billion this year—an all-time record. read more »

A new report released Tuesday shows proposed coal export terminals in Washington would result in more coal being burned in China. The report’s claims are a direct contradiction to proponents of the coal terminals, who say shipping United States coal to China would have no effect on the country’s reliance on coal power. read more »

Several popular economics textbooks contain incorrect information about climate change science and policy, ranging from misleading to flat-out wrong. That’s according to a new review of 16 of the most popular college economics textbooks, written by Dr. Yoram Bauman, environmental economist at the University of Washington and fellow at the sustainability think tank, Sightline Institute. read more »

After precipitous declines over the previous century, some of the iconic wildlife populations of the Pacific Northwest have notched tentative gains in recent years. That’s according to a new report by Sightline Institute’s Cascadia Scorecard—a regional progress report on sustainability in the region. read more »

Recession erased two decades of gains for middle class. read more »

Total gasoline consumption fell 180 million gallons in 2008, the greatest drop since 1980. Per-capita use has been on the decline for eight of the last nine years, and is at a four-decade low. Moreover, Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) for 2009 show northwesterners have already driven 643,000 miles fewer than they did during the same time frame in 2007. read more »

The greater sage-grouse population of eastern Oregon is the lowest it has been in nearly 15 years, signaling bad news for the arid sagebrush country of the Northwest, according to new research from Seattle-based think tank Sightline Institute. This research is part of Sightline’s annual progress report, the Cascadia Scorecard. read more »