Research by Type
What do a clothesline, a locally grown tomato, and a microchip have in common? According to Sightline’s book “Seven Wonders for a Cool Planet,” these are ordinary things that, with widespread use, can have an extraordinary impact on the fight against global warming, one of the most urgent challenges facing life on Earth in this century. read more »
The 2007 Cascadia Scorecard–Sightline’s regional gauge of progress for the Pacific Northwest–identifies some real victories in the Northwest, but reveals that we still struggle when it comes to energy efficiency, economic security, and curbing sprawl. Despite our reputation for a good quality of life, the Northwest comes up short when we measure what really matters. read more »
The third edition of the Cascadia Scorecard examines the connections between urban design and health risks such as car crashes, obesity, and physical inactivity. It also identifies ways we can create communities that favor health by making it easier for people to get out of their cars and get more connected. read more »
The 2005 Scorecard gives a concise update on how Cascadia ranks in seven key trends, with a focus on one of the most critical issues facing the region: energy. It details the weaknesses of the region’s energy system and argues that Cascadia can achieve true security, and a stronger economy, by investing in a clean-energy revolution that is already gathering force. read more »
Each minute in 2003 northwesterners cut one acre of the region’s forest. Every four minutes the Northwest’s population increased by one. Every 20 minutes, the population of poor northwesterners grew by one. These are small changes, but-as Cascadia Scorecard shows-over decades, such trends transform the region more dramatically than the fleeting headlines that so often makes front-page news. read more »
If we don’t measure what we value, we’ll end up valuing what we measure. This Place on Earth 2002 takes a close look at why society’s most-influential indicators—from the GDP to the Dow Jones—are failing us. It also presents a first effort at an alternative yardstick for the Northwest, by measuring how the region is doing in critical areas such as salmon health, sprawl, income inequality, and land use. read more »
A close look at why society’s most-influential indicators–from the GDP to the Dow Jones–are failing us. This Place on Earth 2002 also presents a first effort at an alternative yardstick for the Northwest, by measuring how the region is doing in critical areas such as salmon health, sprawl, income inequality, and land use. read more »
First published in 1994, this report finds that ecosystems are still in critical condition. Yet our environment remains less degraded than almost anywhere else in the industrial world, pointing to the rare opportunity that we in the Northwest have to build a sustainable way of life. read more »
Green-Collar Jobs takes a close look at timber towns in the Northwest–ground zero in the perceived battle between jobs and the environment. If we do what’s right for the environment, what is everyone going to do for a living? read more »
Seven Wonders, a follow-up to Sightline’s 1997 book Stuff, asks readers to ponder this question: What would the world be like if everyone on Earth consumed resources the way North Americans do? The conclusion: probably uninhabitable. But the seven time-honored tools presented in this book are examples of simple things that can help redirect business as usual to sustainable ends. read more »
