Cascadia Report

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Dems must be bold with Washington budget

Democrats who control the legislature in Washington stand to lose their advantage if they don’t make bold moves during this year’s session.

The session kicked off this week with Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposals to boost spending on education and other programs. It was met with a preemptive strike in The Seattle Times, claiming the spending is ill-timed and unsustainable.

Josh Feit at The Stranger outlines some of the flaws in the argument. Joel Connelly rightly points out examples of how failing to enact policy solutions that make lives better is a good way for a party to lose power. Gregoire has already whiffed once (on the viaduct) and gets scarce credit for her successes. With the 2008 elections on the horizon, voters will need to see action.

January 11, 2007
B.C. construction boom broadens

The construction boom in British Columbia continues, and appears to be broadening beyond urban centers of the Lower Mainland and Victoria.

January 11, 2007
New award of China flights leaves out Cascadia

The U.S. gave United Airlines the lucrative right to start flying nonstop between China and Washington, D.C. But what about Cascadia?

Flights between China and the U.S. are tightly regulated, largely because China wants to protect its developing airline industry. The U.S. chose the United flight to Beijing over Continental, which wanted to fly to Shanghai from New York, and American, which wanted to fly to Beijing from Dallas. United’s case reportedly was helped because Washington, D.C., is the largest U.S. metropolitan area without China service.

Now the scramble begins for the next new route, to be awarded in 2008. Seattle is the second-largest U.S. metro area without China service, according to this press release issued during the Chinese president’s visit to Seattle last year. Nonstops help business and tourism, but Seattle hasn’t had one to China for several years. (Note that Vancouver has daily flights to three Chinese cities.)

January 10, 2007
Seattle company plans Oregon ethanol plant

A Seattle company may build an ethanol plant in Klamath Falls, Ore., to meet rising demand for alternative fuels.

The company, E85 Inc., has been proposing plants across the U.S., according to numerous articles. A plant is reportedly planned in North Carolina, where it would benefit from investment incentives. The Oregon plant isn’t finalized and details remain scarce.

According to a local newspaper report, the plant would generate 100 million gallons of ethanol a year and provide 45-50 “well-paid” jobs. The plant would be a victory for economic development in southern Oregon, though some concern was expressed over the plant’s potential water consumption.

January 10, 2007
Canada approves $3.3B Weyerhaeuser deal

Canadian regulators okayed the merger of Domtar, the country’s largest paper company, with a unit of Weyerhaeuser.

The U.S. already approved the $3.3 billion deal, which should close this quarter. The combination clears the way for further cross-border consolidation in the forest products sector. Some other deals are already happening.

January 10, 2007
New passport rules may cost economy

Beginning in two weeks, passports will be required to enter the U.S. by air from Canada, a change with huge potential for economic disruption.

New passports are more than a formality since new ones cost $97 and renewals $67. One possible casualty: Kenmore Air, which flies between Seattle and B.C., said it’s budgeting a reduction in summertime travel to Canada because passengers without passports may go by land or boat instead of paying the extra expense.

January 9, 2007
Seattle area needs single transit agency

The Seattle area needs a single transit agency to prioritize projects and recommend funding and land use policies, according to a new state study.

The recommendation, expected after a preliminary report last fall, would make the area’s transit and development planning apparatus more similar to those in Vancouver and Portland — where transit projects are more than plans. The Seattle area has six major transit agencies and 128 governments involved in transit planning, the study found.

January 9, 2007
A fix for energy shortage? Consumer choice

Here’s part of the answer to meeting Cascadia’s energy needs without building lots of new power plants: real-time metering of electricity so consumers can choose when to flip the switch.

Electricity costs vary by time of day but power companies typically roll charges into a monthly bill because it’s more profitable. Imagine how demand would change if companies had to give conumers more choice. The article cites a study that consumers would save nearly $23 billion a year if they shifted just 7 percent of their peak consumption to less-costly times.

Just as cellphone customers delay personal calls until they become free at night and on weekends, and just as millions of people fly at less popular times because air fares are lower, people who know the price of electricity at any given moment can cut back when prices are high and use more when prices are low.

Metering is just one of the hurdles in the way of more renewable energy without building more traditional power plants.

January 9, 2007
Portland restores more nonstop flights

Alaska Airlines is starting its first transcontinental flights from Portland, restoring business-friendly service the city lost years ago.

The flights from Portland to Boston and Orlando will be the first such nonstops since Delta dismantled its Portland hub in the 1990s. Before deregulation of trans-Pacific flights, Delta operated daily nonstops from Portland to at least six cities in Asia and major cities in the U.S. It dropped almost all of those when it was allowed to shift the flights to Los Angeles and Atlanta.

The flights are another win for PDX, which has gradually wooed airlines to restore nonstop service — a key amenity for area businesses. Incentives are behind Lufthansa’s nonstops to Frankfurt and Northwest’s to Tokyo. Presumably Alaska also sees potential profit in restoring nonstops.

January 9, 2007
Chinese courted for Whistler luxury homes

Canadian developers are turning to Chinese investors to buy high-end homes in Whistler.

January 8, 2007