Sightline in the News

Critics fear traffic backup with I-985

10/10/2008
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Meanwhile, the city of Kirkland on Thursday joined the swelling ranks of local and statewide organizations lining up against the initiative, many citing new studies by the Puget Sound Regional Council, Institute of Transportation Engineers and the nonprofit Sightline Institute which show negative affects on traffic, transit, air quality, highway safety, federal funding and HOV merge lanes.

Eyman's I-985 drives slowly in fast lane

10/05/2008
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The Sightline Institute, which produces an annual (and highly regarded) Cascadia Scorecard on livability trends in the Northwest, took a detailed look at I-985 and came to a startling conclusion. "All told, Sightline estimates that Initiative 985 would siphon about $180 million from the rest of the state into Greater Seattle -- or $229 for the average four-person family living outside of Greater Seattle -- through 2013," it concluded.

How Powerful Is Your Workout?

09/26/2008
New York Times

Of course, riding a real bike rather than driving a car saves much more energy than riding a stationary bike attached to a generator, said Clark Williams-Derry, research director for the Sightline Institute, an environmental research center in Seattle.

Western States Agree on Plan to Tackle Global Warming Pollution

09/24/2008
KUOW

DE PLACE: "Any price that was attached to this cap–and–trade program would be little more than noise when compared to the volatility that we've seen in the fossil fuel markets lately. So this is really a way to take control of energy prices, not to just ratchet up the prices."

Environmentalists See Flaws in Pollution Credit Program

09/23/2008
The Oregonian

Sightline on the Western Climate Initiative

Cap and Trade 101

09/21/2008
Worldchanging.org

Carbon pricing, and specifically the leading strategy of cap and trade, is something we discuss regularly here at Worldchanging. One of our favorite, informed voices on this solution is carbon pricing guru Eric de Place, a senior researcher at the The Sightline Institute, whose writing on the subject we've featured prominently here. From carbon budgets to carbon taxes, Eric's articles and research have been helping us wrap our heads around this issue.

Study puts price on Puget Sound

07/25/2008
Seattle Times

“The biggest hurdle, however, is translating these theories into real policy changes, said Alan Durning…One approach, he said, is getting people to pay the costs of environmental damage they cause.”

Want to calculate a carbon footprint?

07/25/2008
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

“One reason for the wide range is that emissions from air travel, the couple's largest carbon producer, are often calculated very differently, said Clark Williams-Derry, research director at Sightline Institute, a nonprofit research center that studies carbon calculators.”

Group proposes climate-saving strategy

07/23/2008
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"It's a gigantic step in the right direction," said Eric de Place, a senior researcher with Seattle's Sightline Institute, a liberal think tank. "Even in an imperfect form, it's a step in the right direction."

Natural environment Shaped our culture

05/12/2008
Vancouver Sun

Even with the incredible environmental ferment that exists in the Pacific Northwest, there may be no group more devoted to Cascadia than the Sightline Institute (formerly Northwest Environment Watch) of Seattle, founded by Alan Durning in 1993.

Seven common little wonders that can save the planet

05/12/2008
Vancouver Sun

The book by science writer Eric Sorenson and the staff of the Seattle-based Sightline Institute celebrates seven ordinary things that ascend to the status of the fabled hanging gardens of Babylon in the context of climate change.

Northwest guzzling least amount of gas since '66

04/21/2008
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"The biggest single impetus is higher prices," said Clark Williams-Derry, research director of Sightline. "When prices rise, people start to make different kinds of choices. ... We're traveling a little less. We're making shorter trips and fewer trips."

Northwest hits brakes on per-capita use of gasoline

04/21/2008
The Oregonian

Northwest residents are individually buying 10 percent less gas than they did nine years ago, now consuming about a gallon a week less than the national average.

NW drivers cutting back big time on gas consumption

04/21/2008
King 5

On the day that Washington state's attorney general is set to announce the findings of a year-long investigation into high gas prices, a Seattle-based think tank says people in the Northwest are leading the nation in cutting back on gas consumption.

Spokane gas cheapest in the state

04/21/2008
Spokesman-Review

State investigators found no evidence of price-fixing or illegal collusion in Washington, although gas prices have risen 230 percent since 2003.