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Oregon’s Untapped Gold Mine: The Homes that Don’t Yet Exist
To reduce housing shortages, small doses of cash could get many projects built. A bill introduced in Oregon this year suggests a clever place to find it.
The Best Wildfire Solution We’re Not Using
Three ways to curb the sprawl that traps us on a wildfire treadmill.
Washington’s Refinery Communities Just Got a Transition Boost
A quarter-million-dollar budget proviso will fund a study to map opportunities beyond oil. -
A Fairer Election System in Alaska Helped More Independents Win Office
Open primaries and ranked choice voting likely led to greater political diversity in the Alaska legislature, while their effect on age, gender, and race was less apparent.
The Northwest Needs More Midsize Solar
While distributed solar can’t solve the region’s transmission woes alone, Idaho and Washington would be smart to follow Oregon’s lead in boosting it for a cleaner future. -
Montana’s Big Bipartisan Housing Deal
Amid the US’s second-worst price spikes and shortage of homes, a broad coalition unified to find solutions.
Parking Reform Legalized Most of the New Homes in Buffalo and Seattle
Studies from two very different cities showed the same result. -
Anchorage Adopts Model ADU Reforms
Alaska’s largest city just deregulated bonus homes in a big way, a step to right-sizing its housing options to locals’ changing needs.
Ranked Choice Voting Would Help Oregonians Vote for their True Favorite
HB 2004 in Oregon’s House of Representatives could bring voters more voice and more choice.
What Washington, DC, Can Learn from the Other Washington about Climate Policy
Six lessons from the Evergreen State for America's national leaders. -
Habitat for Humanity Goes All In for Multifamily Housing
But it needs relaxed parking mandates, widescale zoning reform, and public funding to make the most of the opportunity.
Poll: Washington Voters Out Ahead Of Local Leaders On Zoning Reforms
Statewide survey shows broad voter receptivity—across partisan, demographic, and geographic lines—to zoning changes to allow more homes like duplexes and small apartment buildings.
UPDATED: 50 Housing Bills and How They Fared in Olympia
Washington state leaders considered dozens of bills across the critical policy pillars of supply, stability, and subsidy. -
Hey, Olympia! If You Let Them, Cities Could Double Turnout in Local Elections
The case for freeing Washington cities to run elections on Election Day.
Yes, Oregon, There Is a Way to Build Enough Homes
The state has done it before—with more apartments and even a smaller construction workforce.
With Flexibility Over Parking, Oregon Homebuilders Get to Work
Tens of thousands of homes are now more buildable, including several projects now resurrected that local parking mandates had previously killed.
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SIGHTLINE DAILY
Today’s top sustainability headlines for the Pacific Northwest, curated by Sightline Institute.
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OR’s untapped gold mine: The homes that don’t yet exist
Sightline Institute
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Lummi Nation moves to block BC port expansion
KUOW
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The best wildfire solution we’re not using
Sightline Institute
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Portland camping ban proposal draws strong opposition in marathon meeting
Oregon Public Broadcasting
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OR youth and their climate suit will have their day in court
Oregon Public Broadcasting
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BC sets aside $17M for wild salmon restoration
Vancouver Sun
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Can retiring farmland make CA’s Central Valley more equitable?
High Country News
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Climate hazards are the Duwamish Valley’s top concern
Crosscut
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Industry knew about risks of PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ for decades
CBC
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Climate shocks are making parts of America uninsurable
New York Times
Our Mission
Sightline Institute’s mission is to make the Northwest a global model of sustainability— strong communities, a green economy, and a healthy environment.
We envision in the Pacific Northwest an economy and way of life that are environmentally sound, economically vibrant, and socially just. We believe that if northwesterners succeed at reconciling themselves with the natural heritage of this place—the greenest part of history’s richest civilization—we can set an example for the world.