Sightline in the News

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.”

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.”

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.

Green With Envy

04/21/2008
Williamette Week Online

“At one point we were the greenest corner of the country and perhaps one of the trendsetters of the world. And now, I don’t want to say we’re falling behind, but we’re no longer uniquely the ones to watch,” says Clark Williams-Derry. . .

Walk the Walk

04/21/2008
New York Times

Last summer, a trio of Seattle software developers started walkscore.com, which calculates the number of potential destinations within walking distance of any given address and then produces a rating.

Growing cruise ship industry impacting air, water quality

03/31/2008
King 5

"The Port of Seattle tends to count only the benefits of the cruise ship industry and not count the costs. It's a bit like counting your paycheck, but the not the charges your racking up on the credit card," said researcher Eric de Place, Sightline Institute.

Cyclists, skinny tires, streetcar rails — not a good mix

12/06/2007
Seattle Times

New streetcar tracks on Seattle's Westlake Avenue have turned into a trap for bicyclists. The tires on a standard road bike are narrower than the 1 ¾-inch groove that holds a streetcar wheel. If a bicycle veers into that gap, it can easily get stuck, pitching the rider onto the street.

Nickels to employees: Take bus

12/05/2007
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Mayor Greg Nickels has proposed giving all city employees free bus passes by 2009 to encourage use of transit as a means for reducing the air pollution that causes global warming.

Does building new roads help or hurt global warming?

12/05/2007
International Herald Tribune

Seeking a place in the vanguard of the battle against global warming, France last month unveiled a package of ambitious pledges that included a particularly bold proposition: An end to new highway construction.