Cascadia

OPEC, the oil cartel whose members control most of the world’s oil reserves, celebrates its 50th anniversary Tuesday. In September of 1960, the governments of Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela met in Baghdad to discuss ways to increase the price of the crude oil they produced. They ended up creating the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. But for Read More ›

Today on KUOW 94.9 FM’s “The Conversation,” Ross Reynolds and reporter Deborah Wang took on a comprehensive reporting assignment to look at the deep-bore tunnel—the transportation option chosen in 2009 by Seattle, King County and Washington State to replace the aging Alaskan Way Viaduct. Cascadia Center and Discovery Institute have been front and center on the idea of a deep-bore Read More ›

Click here to read the report.

This article, published by the Puget Sound Business Journal, references Discovery Institute Fellow Bruce Agnew: Bruce Agnew, director of the Seattle-based Cascadia Center, which helped organize a June 17 trip to B.C., said the mayors support continuing a policy to waive the $1,500 Canadian border-inspection fee for high-speed trains.

Cascadia Center continued its work on high-speed rail during the summer, being among the sponsors of two highly-successful sessions in Vancouver, B.C., and Portland, Ore. What began in earnest with our May 2009 Cascadia Rail Week continues as we work with colleagues throughout the corridor to organize seminars, forums, meetings and field trips to help regional leaders coalesce around a common cause. 

Information about the June and July events:

Vancouver - June 9, 2010: Here is an article that ties into the event, and click here for a recap of the presentations.

Portland - July 8-9, 2010: The map (above) shows the entire corridor. Click here for a larger version. Also, click here for the America 2050 briefing book for the event. 

“The eyes of the world’s tunneling community are on Seattle,” said Martin Herrenknecht, president of a worldwide company building tunneling machines, speaking at the North America Tunneling Conference in Portland this week. Herrenknecht spoke in glowing terms of the opportunity for the Alaskan Way Viaduct deep bore tunnel to advance the U.S. into the major leagues with Europe and Asia Read More ›

This article, published by Government Technology, quotes Discovery Institute Fellow Bruce Agnew: “Intercity rail has been a neglected stepchild for 30 years. It is the missing link,” said Bruce Agnew, director of the Cascadia Center for Regional Development, a group working to get high-speed rail service in the Pacific Northwest. “There has to be commitment at all levels of government Read More ›

Last month, bipartisan bills were introduced in Congress designed to cut our nation’s dependence on oil. Called the “Electric Vehicle Deployment Act of 2010,” the idea is to create a competition similar to the recent “Race to the Top” in education. This is a race we can and should win. Winning will bring economic development opportunities for a technology that Read More ›

This article, published by Business In Vancouver, mentions Discovery Institute’s Cascadia Center: But with little cohesive resolve on this side of the border, Charles Kelly of the Cascadia Center, a Seattle-based organization that promotes regional transportation and which co-hosted last week’s meeting with the Vancouver Economic Development Commission, said B.C. is lagging behind many states.

Fueled by gas tax increases and voter approval of Sound Transit’s second phase, the red cones are out for $8 billion in transportation-related construction — the most in state history. In a dreary economy, you would think that would be cause for political consensus on how to keep this job-creating monster well fed. Instead there is a nasty aftertaste from Read More ›