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What are we spending?

The Northwest spent $22.3 billion, a new record, to import petroleum and natural gas in 2007, the last year with complete data. ⁽¹⁾ Adjusted for inflation, that’s 6 percent over 2006, and fully 20 percent over 2005. State by state in 2007 we spent:

Washington		$12.6 billion
Oregon		$7.0 billion
Idaho		$2.7 billion

What does that add up to?

• 4 percent of the Northwest states' entire economic output--money that could have been in circulation in our local economies. ⁽²⁾
  
• More than the total spending in the Northwest states on public K-12 education in 2006. ⁽³⁾
• More than total 2006 spending on hospital care in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. ⁽⁴⁾

• More than three and a half times the total spending on prescription drugs in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington in 2006. ⁽⁵⁾

What can you do?

• What you can do about climate change in Cascadia: Solutions for your own life, and how you can encourage regional leaders to act on climate.
  
• Sightline's Climate Policy Project: Promising energy solutions that can make the region's system efficient and secure.
• Climate Policy for Smarties: Sightline researchers investigate the latest on climate in our blog.

Notes:

Counter above assumes that energy spending patterns will be the same in 2008 as in 2007.

1. Figure includes spending by industry, government, and businesses, as well as household and personal spending.
2. Based on State GDP, US Bureau of Economic Analysis.
3. Idaho, Oregon, and Washington K-12 public school spending totals an estimated $38 million a day, according to National Center for Education Statistics.
   
4. US Dept of Health & Human Services, National Health Expenditure Data.
5. US Dept of Health & Human Services, National Health Expenditure Data.