Most recent 10 articles: Sightline
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The Contradiction of a Split Vote on Washington’s Anti-Climate Ballot Initiatives - Sightline (Oct 24, 2024) |
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Oct 24, 2024 · Drop box on an autumn day. Photo by Emily Moore
Two of the four measures on Washington state’s ballots this fall, Initiatives 2066 and 2117, take aim at the state’s climate policies. I-2117, the better known of the two, would repeal the state’s cap-and-invest law, the Climate Commitment Act. I-2066 would restrict Washington’s ability to decarbonize buildings, the state’s second highest emitting sector.
Yet support for the two initiatives diverges. Roughly 44 percent of respondents indicated they would approve I-2066 compared to just 30 percent who said they would approve I-2117, according to an October Seattle Times poll. Roughly a quarter of respondents were undecided ... Read more ...
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(Re)explaining Washington’s Climate Commitment Act - Sightline (Oct 08, 2024) |
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Oct 08, 2024 · SDOT RapidRide by SDOT Photos used under CC BY-NC 2.0
Editor’s Note: In 2021, when Washington enacted the Climate Commitment Act, Sightline published an explainer of the new law. We are publishing this updated explainer with the latest information about the law.
In 2021 Washington enacted the Climate Commitment Act, becoming only the second US state (after California) with an economy-wide cap-and-invest program. With the passage of the Climate Commitment Act, Washington also put in place its primary enforcement mechanism for achieving the state’s greenhouse gas reduction goals. The law went into effect in January 2023.
In November 2024, Initiative 2117 on ... Read more ...
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Explaining Washington’s Ballot Initiative 2066 - Sightline (Sep 24, 2024) |
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Sep 24, 2024 · Cooking on an induction stove
Burning gas to heat homes, generate electricity, and power industry bears responsibility for about a quarter of Washington’s climate pollution. Washington State—and its cities–have enacted a suite of laws to help homes and businesses make the transition from gas to all-electric appliances such as heat pumps. Initiative Measure No. 2066 on Washington’s November 2024 ballot would directly repeal some of the state’s gas transition policies and could impact others.
Below we explain four policies and regulations in Washington that the initiative could impact.
Initiative 2066 reverses a requirement that Washington’s energy code ... Read more ...
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Hydrogen Is Sneaking Its Way into Oregon Homes - Sightline (Sep 12, 2024) |
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Sep 12, 2024 · Gas Meters by ivva ??? used under CC BY-SA 2.0
Customers in southeast Portland recently found out that hydrogen may be sneaking its way into their homes. NW Natural, Oregon’s largest gas utility, has started injecting hydrogen, blended with so-called “natural gas,” into its distribution lines without informing customers or regulators.1See Sightline’s 2018 talking points for calling “natural gas” what it is.
Hydrogen is a bad bet for decarbonizing homes pretty much any way you look at it. It’s far more expensive than electrification, can’t achieve nearly the same climate impact, and can be dangerous, as Sightline has written about extensively. Plus, since carbon-free ... Read more ...
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The Northwest’s Electric Grid Deserves an Upgrade - Sightline (Sep 11, 2024) |
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Sep 11, 2024 · Lineman restrings conductor by Western Area Power used under CC BY 2.0 (Photo by Kevin Ripplinger)
The lights could soon dim on the Northwest’s climate goals unless the grid gets some serious TLC.
The region, like the United States as a whole, needs more electric transmission capacity to reach the best wind and solar resources and meet rising power demand without burning coal or gas. But building new transmission lines can take decades and cost billions. Luckily there are no-brainer ways to squeeze more juice out of the existing grid.
Among the options, reconductoring—swapping out the wires on transmission lines for higher capacity ones—holds particular ... Read more ...
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Four Ways Context Matters for Wildfire News Coverage - Sightline (Aug 21, 2024) |
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Aug 21, 2024 · Reporters can help people see the forest, even when the trees are on fire.
News is news. And fire is fire. But coverage of wildfires in 2024 is more than a matter of acres burned, percentage contained, drought and wind conditions, evacuation orders, and threats to lives and property. All that is important, but it’s not the full story. Journalists play a vital role in interpreting the significance of wildfire events within a broader context. For example, over the past decade, following the available science, reporters have shifted from covering wildfires simply as natural disasters and zeroing in only on a singular “cause” or spark. They are more often clarifying how wildfires ... Read more ...
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Five Ways Ranked Choice Voting Could Help Climate Action - Sightline (Aug 16, 2024) |
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Aug 16, 2024 · Columbia River Gorge by Bill Devlin used under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
A supermajority of Americans wants more climate action.1 And yes, there’s been progress, especially here in Cascadia. Yet laws in the United States are still not aligned with public sentiment on climate and many other issues.
That’s because our democracy isn’t functioning as it should.
One could blame individual elected leaders for their foibles. But perceiving everyone to be at fault—“fire everyone and start fresh,” as one recent US survey respondent summarized—is more productively interpreted as a nudge to explore the structures that incentivize politicians to act the way they ... Read more ...
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Blazing a Trail: The Vital Role of Wildfire Hazard Maps - Sightline (Aug 08, 2024) |
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Aug 08, 2024 · Oregon’s Wildfire Hazard Map and WUI map, overlaid. Source: OR Dept of Forestry.
Oregon and Washington are currently fighting 32 major wildfires, and over 9,000 people are under an evacuation notice in Oregon. It is a blistering wildfire season but one we knew to expect. And thanks to technology and wildfire hazard maps, we also know where to expect intense fires.
Hazard maps are a key piece in the wildfire crisis puzzle that we’re racing against time to finish. While it’s true that wildfires can destroy homes anywhere (as we learned when the Tubbs Fire burned through urban Santa Rosa, California), they are much more likely in certain predictable places. These places are ... Read more ...
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Washington State Leads in Climate-Friendly Building Policies - For Now - Sightline (Jul 31, 2024) |
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Jul 31, 2024 · Health Science Building-1577 by Central Washington University used under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 (Central Washington University will receive ~$12 million in Climate Commitment Act (CCA) funding to decarbonize heating and cooling on campus buildings, including the Health Sciences building pictured here. This funding will disappear if the CCA is repealed.)
Buildings make up a quarter of Washington state’s carbon emissions, polluting more than any other sector except transportation.1This includes electricity emissions in commercial and residential buildings; it does not include industrial emissions. To change this grim statistic and achieve state climate goals, Washington has put in ... Read more ...
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Five Flaws That Would Destine WA’s TOD Bills to Backfire - Sightline (Jul 19, 2024) |
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Jul 19, 2024 · Mercy Othello Plaza opened in 2017 with 108 affordable homes and street-level commercial space by Sound Transit (Transit-Oriented Development Quarterly Status Report)
To dig out of the state’s deep shortage of homes and control the crisis of high prices and rents, Washington legislators have passed a slew of bills in the past two years to boost housing production, including the re-legalization of accessory dwellings, middle housing, and co-living homes. But for two years running, the legislature has reached an impasse on a remaining zoning reform that’s critical for curbing sprawl, cutting pollution, and making Washington communities affordable for all incomes: legalizing ... Read more ...
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