Insights

The AI boom is driving the largest U.S. infrastructure buildout since the interstate highway system. In the Pacific Northwest and Great Basin, the debate centers on water, power, and land. Economist and mediator Bea Covington weighs the benefits of data centers against their documented costs and explains what communities should ask before a deal is signed.

Greene Economics' methanol market emissions analysis gave Washington's Department of Ecology a market-based read on the greenhouse-gas impact of a proposed Columbia River facility—would it displace higher-emitting supply, or add to a growing market?