About this weblog and its contributors

The Cascadia Scorecard Weblog is published by Northwest Environment Watch (NEW), a Seattle research and communication center that monitors progress toward sustainability in the Northwest. Every day, we post one or two items on "news that really matters" in the Pacific Northwest, especially those relating to the trends we track through our Cascadia Scorecard project.

If you'd like to reprint one of our posts, or if you have an issue that you'd like us to cover, please write Elisa Murray, [email protected].

Primary authors are members of NEW's research team--Alan Durning, Clark Williams-Derry and Eric de Place. Other staff contribute as well. We also have a growing roster of guest contributors, including these folks:

Yoram Bauman lives in Walla Walla, Washington, where he teaches economics at Whitman College. He has a BA in mathematics from Reed College (in Portland, Oregon) and a PhD in economics from the University of Washington. Since coauthoring Tax Shift with Alan Durning in 1998, Yoram has written a variety of op-ed pieces and journal articles, most of which are available at www.smallparty.org/yoram.

Rich Feldman is the regional organizer for the Washington State arm of the Apollo Alliance, a coalition of unions, environmental groups and community-based organizations that is pursuing a statewide agenda of investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency. He is also Executive Director of the Worker Center, the economic and workforce development division of the King County Labor Council, AFL-CIO, which promotes labor-community linkages to support "high road," or "worker-centered" economic development.

KC Golden is policy director and NW Climate Connections director for Climate Solutions, an Olympia, Washington-based nonprofit that helps the Northwest develop practical, profitable solutions to global warming. From 1999 to 2002, KC was a special assistant to the Mayor of Seattle for clean energy and climate protection initiatives. In that capacity he helped to engineer Seattle City Light's commitment to become the nation's first climate-neutral electric power utility and the City's commitment to exceed the goals of the Kyoto protocol. Before that, KC served as assistant director of Washington's Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development, where he directed the Energy Division and the state's energy policy office; and as executive director of the Northwest Energy Coalition.

Jennifer Lamson founding partner of Good Food Strategies LLC has more than fifteen years experience in grassroots organizing, political and policy campaigns, and media. Jen was responsible for leading numerous nationwide grassroots citizen campaigns as vice president of Common Cause, a national nonprofit based in Washington DC. In the Northwest, she has worked with dozens of nonprofit organizations, including the Cascade Conservation Partnership, People for Puget Sound, and Resource Media. She has served on the board of the Cascade Harvest Coalition since 2001, currently as chair. She is a passionate cook and true believer in the power of coming together at the table over a home-cooked meal.

Thomas Michael Power, Professor of Economics and Chairman of the Economics Department at the University of Montana, specializes in natural resource and regional economic development issues. His most recent book, Post-Cowboy Economics: Pay and Prosperity in the New American West, was published in Summer 2001 by Island Press. Other books include Lost Landscapes and Failed Economies: The Search for a Value of Place; The Economic Pursuit of Quality (later revised and republished as Environmental Protection and Economic Well Being: The Economic Pursuit of Quality); and The Economic Value of the Quality of Life. Professor Power's upcoming book analyzes the impact of natural landscape protection on regional economies across the US and around the world. In addition, he has written a dozen book chapters and over a hundred papers, reports, and monographs; regularly testifies before state and federal regulatory agencies; and is a regular commentator on economic issues on Montana Public Radio and in the national press.

Gordon Price, former Vancouver, BC City Councillor, is adjunct professor of urban planning at the University of British Columbia. He lectures and writes widely on urban development, design, and transportation issues in Canada and the US. While city councillor, he sat on the boards of the Greater Vancouver Regional District and of TransLink, the regional transportation authority. Prior to that, he worked as an urban planning consultant, as a writer and editor, and as information and education coordinator for AIDS Vancouver. He publishes an e-mail newsletter, Price Tags. If you'd like to subscribe, e-mail him at [email protected].

Dan Staley is Planning Director for Buckley, Washington. He has a BS in Environmental Horticulture and Urban Forestry from UC Davis and is still--ahem--finishing his thesis for a Masters of Urban Planning from the University of Washington, specializing in Environmental Planning. An avid outdoorsman, bicyclist and cloud-shrouded amateur astronomer, past public and private experience includes non-profit urban forestry and for-profit landscape design and construction.

Tim Steury edits Washington State Magazine for Washington State University. As WSU is Washington's land grant university, WSM is very much about the state as well as the university. With his wife and son, he also farms a small farm south of Potlatch, Idaho. They raise a few pigs, a few chickens, and a lot of apples, most of which are converted to cider. He considers himself passionate about many things, but mostly family, food, agriculture, and place.

Dave Yaden of Lake Oswego, Oregon, is former energy director for the state of Oregon and serves as Northwest Environment Watch's board chair. He is setired from 30 years varied experience in the public and private sectors but stays active in public issues such as reforming school finance and the tax structure in Oregon. Prior professional experience includes work as manager of corporate planning for a Fortune-500 company, special assistant to US Secretary of transportation, chief of staff to a US Congressman, and manager of his own public opinion analysis firm.