“Breaching Snake River dams could save salmon and orcas, but destroy livelihoods” reads a March 24, 2019 cover story of the Sunday Seattle Times Pacific NW magazine. Such headlines reinforce the misperception that removing the dams would deal a blow to the economy of Eastern Washington. The recent economic impact analysis by ECONorthwest (ECONW) shows … Read more
Breaching the lower Snake River dams and restoring the river would not come cheap. The cost could exceed a billion dollars. (The value of wild salmon make that expense worthwhile, I argued in the first article of this series.) But making whole the irrigators and grain barging companies that are the principal beneficiaries of the … Read more
The first article in this series made the case for removing the dams on the Snake River because of the importance we place on wild salmon, drawing on analysis from a recent report by ECONorthwest (ECONW). A second reason to remove the dams, beyond boosting the odds of salmon survival, is that they are no … Read more
The debate over removing the four dams on the lower Snake River has simmered for decades. In July, the economic consulting firm ECONorthwest (ECONW) issued a new independent analysis funded by the philanthropic arm of the late Paul Allen’s Vulcan Inc. on the benefits and costs of restoring the river. In spite of Vulcan’s reputation … Read more
Matthew Gardner, the chief economist at Seattle’s Windermere Real Estate, earlier this year digitally superimposed a map of Paris atop a map of Seattle for a talk he gave about how outdated single-detached zoning is. It’s a familiar theme for Sightline readers who have been tracking our arguments about housing shortages and climate change. The … Read more
And four other things Oregon could do to prevent senators from holding the state hostage.
It was a dark day for democracy when 11 Oregon senators successfully blocked a major climate and clean energy bill by leaving the state to prevent a quorum. But, in other ways the Oregon lawmaking session was a smashing success for democracy. Here are four bills that will make elections more fair and meaningful, and … Read more
As part of the whirlwind finale to the 2019 session, the Oregon Senate passed Senate Joint Resolution 18. Voters will see an initiative on the 2020 ballot to amend the state constitution to allow campaign contribution limits. This could change the political game in Oregon. If a majority of Oregon voters say yes, lawmakers at … Read more
Historic, first-in-US, state-wide affordability measure to allow missing middle homes cleared both House and Senate with wide bipartisan majorities. Oregon Legislature Legalizes Duplexes, Triplexes, and Fourplexes State-Wide Bipartisan cooperation on affordability—on the heels of partisan climate standoff Oregon’s housing affordability measure, HB 2001, passed the House two weeks ago by 43-16, with two-thirds of both … Read more
The bill, which would also legalize fourplexes and cottage clusters in larger cities, cleared both House and Senate with wide, bipartisan majorities.