Transportation Transformation

Subscription Preview

This article by Krista Langlois first appeared in the November 24, 2014 issue of High Country News.

To read the full article, you must log in or subscribe. Enter your email address:

Climate Change 2 comments

For climate activists, a bright spot in a dismal election

Environmentalists in the Pacific Northwest may lead the way.

Krista Langlois Nov 24, 2014 From the print edition

* climatechange1-jpg *
Thousands gathered in Portland, Oregon, in September as part of the worldwide Global March for Climate Action. Gov. John Kitzhaber was among the speakers.
© John Rudoff 2014

Matt Isenhower was sick of sitting in traffic. As the 34-year-old Navy veteran from Redmond, Washington, van-pooled 80 minutes to and from his job at Amazon in Seattle each day, he had plenty of time to lament the state Senate’s refusal to invest in mass transit. Roughly 58 percent of Washington’s carbon emissions come from the tailpipes of cars, trucks and other vehicles, and the Republican-controlled Senate had also stymied Gov. Jay Inslee’s attempts to forge a bipartisan agreement to limit greenhouse gasses.

Hoping to end the gridlock, Isenhower decided to run for state Senate. With his freshly shaven good looks, military background and Harvard MBA, Democrats thought Isenhower had a good shot at unseating Republican Andy Hill. And in this election year, that was a pretty big deal: If liberals could take just two seats in Washington’s Senate, Inslee — a clean-energy champion and one of America’s greenest governors — would have a pro-environment majority in both chambers. There’s no doubt what he could do with that kind of opportunity: Next year, Inslee hopes to release a sweeping plan that could make Washington the second state in the nation (after California) to slash carbon emissions across the economy by putting a price on them.

Sample Gallery

Comments about this article

Jim Scarborough Subscriber
Nov 24, 2014 06:55 PM
Washington's progressive streak, such as it is, no longer seems to thrive outside of Seattle, a handful of much smaller cities (Bellingham, Olympia, Port Townsend), and maybe one or two isolated neighborhoods in Tacoma and Spokane. Outside of these specific zip codes, Washington has probably always been conservative, but things have moved decidedly right in recent years. I attribute this in part to white flight from California (the same dynamic that changed Idaho from a generally amiable conservatism to a full-on orgy of reactionary one-upmanship), though non-urban whites as a whole seem to be turning Republican faster than even our increasing ethnic diversity can balance. I suspect nothing of significance will get done legislatively in Washington for perhaps years to come. It's nice that Oregon still seems to have some promise, though.
Sally Buttshaw Subscriber
Nov 29, 2014 12:09 AM
I think Oregon is just as guilty as Washington, since the only progressive areas in my state are the Portland the Willamette valley area, Eugene, Salem and possibly Bend. The rest is very conservative.

From our friends

Inspiring words from a die hard reader:

"I subscribed to HCN for a number of years, loved every issue...I stopped subscribing because my work load escalated. It was ok the first few months but after six months I was regretting the decision...the relevance of HCN did not diminish. I continued to look at the enticing titles of articles in the online newsletter but couldn't read enough to satisfy the craving. So I'm back. I also kicked in another 50 bucks as a personal reminder that quality reporting is not free."

Robert E. Hall, Washington D.C.

What another journalist has to say about HCN:

"High Country News is a rich resource for those among us who long to hear the voices of the West. The stories and commentaries are always well-written, with strong regional flavor, by knowledgeable professionals, and prepared and presented by editors with high standards."

Barbara Ellis, Denver Post News Editor