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.

Much of what public transit provides—medical trips for elderly and disabled riders, the money households save, cleaner air—rarely shows up in the ledger. Greene Economics measured the full value of public transit for the Whatcom Transportation Authority, and it added up: about $145 million a year and more than 400 jobs supported.

Washington's first green fertilizer plant is planned for Richland. A cleaner product only helps if farmers buy it, and fertilizer runs 19 percent of variable costs for potato growers. Greene Economics analyzed the farm economics for WSDA and found no single grant closes the price gap across the state's farms.