Washington - Research & Publications - by publication

Article by Sightline

Vancouver Is Cascadia's Greenest City, Who Is Second?

Monday, Seattle inaugurated a new, ultra-green mayor, which got me thinking comparatively. Which of the three largest Cascadian cities is the greenest? Not in plans and intentions and declarations but in facts?

Article by Sightline

Taxing toxins - Letter to the Editor

The polluters who manufacture hazardous substances in Washington do real harm to our air and water. In fact, The Times’ darling, the Anacortes refinery — owned by the Texas oil giant Tesoro — is a case in point. It’s facing a new federal lawsuit for failing to test for important air pollutants like sulfur and benzene.

Article by Sightline

Fate of state forests rests in Olympia

Over the next year, a half-dozen people in Olympia will decide the fate of forests vast enough to fill Mount Rainier National Park nearly nine times over.

Article by Sightline

Car-less In Seattle

Pedestrian pioneer Alan Durning describes what his family of five is learning by living without four wheels in Cascadia's largest city. Can they survive without the essential currency of the modern American community?

Backgrounder

Ocean Acidification in Two Pages (PDF)

As humans emit excessive carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, our oceans become more acidic--causing harm to the basic organisms that make up the ocean's complex marine ecosystem. This backgrounder outlines the problem of ocean acidification in the context of the Pacific Northwest. It includes the impacts happening in the region now as well as steps we can take to fix the problem.

Backgrounder

Analysis: Increases in greenhouse-gas emissions from highway-widening projects (pdf)

Sightline researchers do the math on whether adding lanes adds greenhouse gas emissions--it does.

Fact sheet

Sprawl and Health Connections

Emerging research is discovering that the design and layout of your neighborhood can affect your health. People who live in low-density, sprawling residential areas--where houses are far from stores and jobs--tend to drive more, and walk less, than people who live in more compact neighborhoods with a mixture of stores, services, and homes.

Fact sheet

Wildlife Indicator - Caribou

Caribou are highly endangered in the lower 48 United States and British Columbia. The remaining population in the Northwest consists of the tiny Selkirk herd, which occupies a small area of northeast Washington, northern Idaho, and an adjacent portion of BC.

Fact sheet

Wildlife Indicator - Orcas

Orcas have always been a highly visible part of the northwest's cultural and ecological heritage. Once considered problematic pests by fishermen, they began to gain protection in the 1970s. But human actions still threaten these animals and the ecosystem we both share.

Fact sheet

Wildlife Indicator - Chinook Salmon

No creature, beside humans, penetrates the Pacific Northwest as thoroughly as salmon. The wildlife index tracks Chinook salmon returning as adults to the Bonneville Dam, the lowest dam on the Columbia River.

Fact sheet

Sightline Does the Math on the Seattle Viaduct

Sightline research director Clark Williams-Derry analyzes the Seattle viaduct debate and comes to a few simple conclusions: roads are expensive, rush hour is the worst problem, and the differences between short- and long-term consequences.

Fact sheet

Washington Scorecard 2007

How Washington stacks up in the seven key trends tracked by the Cascadia Scorecard.

Fact sheet

The Facts on I-985: A Bad Deal for Washington State

Sightline research director Clark Williams-Derry and Sightline fellow Doug MacDonald—former transportation secretary for Washington State--have taken a close look at Washington Initiative 985 and what it would mean for Washington residents. The verdict? I-985 is bad for traffic and bad for the state budget.

Fact sheet

Trouble at Paradise: Urban air pollution travels to Mt. Rainier

The mountain air near the Pacific Northwest’s biggest cities may be worse than the air in those cities—at least in terms of round-the-clock levels of one pollutant, ozone.

Fact sheet

PBDEs and PCBs in the Northwest - Regional Data Sheet

Local data for Montana, British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon on PBDEs and PCBs in northwesterners.