Advancing solutions for strong communities, a green economy, and a healthy environment.
We provide citizens and decision-makers with the policy analysis and practical tools they need to advance an economy and way of life that are environmentally sound, economically vibrant, and socially just.
Our Work
All Sightline Institute research is available to you to cite, use, and share, per our free use policy.
New Oregon Rules Will Re-Legalize Neighborhood Apartments
Over time, the state zoning standards make space for tens of thousands more homes in Oregon cities.
Portland’s Inclusionary Zoning Program Is Finally Performing, New Data Suggests
Because for the first time, the city fully funded it.
The High Cost of Slow Permitting
Sluggish approval of Cascadian transmission projects inflates electricity bills and strands renewable energy.
A Two-Word Fix for Alaska’s Ballot Confusion
Letting parties tag their nominees would make Alaska’s elections clearer, fairer, and harder to hijack by disingenuous candidates.
No More 48-Candidate Races
Reasonable filing fees would help voters, parties, and serious contenders alike in Alaska and Portland.
Will an Electoral Glitch Send a Republican to Patty Murray’s Seat in 2028?
Washington’s top-two primary elections can misfire—but there’s an easy fix.
The High Cost of Slow Permitting
Sluggish approval of Cascadian transmission projects inflates electricity bills and strands renewable energy.
How Cascadia Can Maintain Its Heat Pump Momentum
Three tools to help the region’s low-income families afford more efficient heating and cooling systems—even as public dollars dry up.
Who Owns a Utility Matters Less for Climate Than the Rules They Play By
Advocates can focus on fast-tracking policies that are already working well elsewhere.
The 1,083-Page Environmental Assessment That Ignores Climate Change and Tribes
The Northwest needs a better way to evaluate power line projects.
Northwest Data Centers: A Climate Test and Potential Opportunity
A Sightline report finds that—with the right policies—the region could harness data center demand for clean power to decarbonize the broader economy.
A Two-Word Fix for Alaska’s Ballot Confusion
Letting parties tag their nominees would make Alaska’s elections clearer, fairer, and harder to hijack by disingenuous candidates.
No More 48-Candidate Races
Reasonable filing fees would help voters, parties, and serious contenders alike in Alaska and Portland.
Will an Electoral Glitch Send a Republican to Patty Murray’s Seat in 2028?
Washington’s top-two primary elections can misfire—but there’s an easy fix.
Time to Tune Up Washington’s Primaries
Once the most innovative in the nation, the top-two model is showing cracks. Here’s how the Evergreen State can upgrade.
For Oregonians, Better Elections Are Hidden in Plain Sight
The state’s constitution lets localities opt for methods that better reflect their mix of voters.
Four Ways Context Matters for Wildfire News Coverage
Reporters can help people see the forest, even when the trees are on fire.
Blazing a Trail: The Vital Role of Wildfire Hazard Maps
Sophisticated and high-resolution maps such as Oregon’s are essential tools for thriving in a fiery future.
The Best Wildfire Solution We’re Not Using
Three ways to curb the sprawl that traps us on a wildfire treadmill.
New Oregon Rules Will Re-Legalize Neighborhood Apartments
Over time, the state zoning standards make space for tens of thousands more homes in Oregon cities.
Portland’s Inclusionary Zoning Program Is Finally Performing, New Data Suggests
Because for the first time, the city fully funded it.
To Build Fast, Think Small
How re-legalizing small apartment buildings would spur the homes city dwellers need now.
Homes on Wheels Are Filling a Big Gap in Portland
Three personal stories show how these small, affordable, flexible homes provide big solutions for families.
Oregon Decides It Was a Mistake to Let Cities Ban Homes
Two new bipartisan laws suggest that for Oregonians to afford to live where and how they want, state-level zoning works better.
Oregon’s Zoning Reforms Are Working—But They Need Some Upgrades
Six years after a monumental rezone, Gov. Kotek’s HB 2138 will fill the gaps to more fully legalize starter homes.
How to Talk About Parking Reform—and Win
Our road-tested messaging guide to gain more great neighborhoods and the homes we need, and to kick excess asphalt to the curb.
Video: Housing Solutions Are Climate Solutions
In 90 seconds, how zoning for more home choices in our cities helps affordability and cuts climate pollution.
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.
Video: Zoning for All Kinds of Affordable Homes
Cities need all kinds of affordability, both subsidized housing and naturally affordable, modest-sized, market-rate homes.
Recipes for Successful Abundant Housing Communications
In this panel discussion, three expert communicators share how they’ve crafted compelling narratives, engaged coalitions, and garnered press attention for housing affordability and climate policy.
How to Tear Down the Invisible Walls in Your City’s Zoning Code
10 tips for zoning reformers from a town that legalized housing.
How we work
Sightline Institute equips leaders with practical policy solutions, thoughtful arguments to advance them, and unusual coalitions to win them.
Agenda-setting
Case-making
Policy influence
As a think tank, our piece of the coalition puzzle is to supply rigorous independent research, plus smart messaging and strategy recommendations, to help drive policy wins across Cascadia. Here’s how we do it:
- Set the agenda: Sightline researchers explore numerous potential solutions in our issue areas, identifying those with the highest impact and political promise for our region. In other words, we get curious and dream big.
- Make the case: Having identified priority opportunities, we research them in-depth, publish rock-solid data, and develop sophisticated arguments and messaging to steer the conversation. Here, we’re like a debate team in overdrive.
- Influence policy: From the halls of state legislatures to city council chambers to editorial board meetings, we then transform those well-honed solutions into reality—helping draft bills, equipping champions with the evidence and messaging they need, and assembling the unusual, multi-partisan coalitions often needed for success. This is how we win positive change for Cascadians—and set a model for other places in North America and beyond.
Why our topics
What does democracy have to do with sustainability? Why is housing a climate issue? How do you balance a bigger electric grid with conservation?
Sightline centers its efforts on what we have identified to be turnkey opportunities: urgent, high-impact issues to propel sustainability in our region and model best-in-class solutions for other places.
- For example, using election methods whose outcomes better reflect the will of the people can deliver more of the popular climate policies many voters already support, often across partisan lines.
- As for housing, it’s about giving more people options to affordably live in the cities and towns they love, while reducing their energy use and climate impact by doing so.
- And when new transmission lines needed to usher an electrified future come with small-picture local, environmental impacts, we zoom out to the bigger climate panorama and the promise of clean, renewable energy, clear skies and clean air, and say (along with Bill McKibben) “yes in our backyards.”
This big-tent approach to reconciling people, place, and prosperity in our region—and making Cascadia its global model—means we have worked on dozens of topics over our 30-plus years of operation. We stay nimble to seize emerging opportunities while also committing to long-term solutions.
