newer IT industries,”Given the environmental impacts of the logging and hydroelectric industries, it isnot surprising that many people in the region are enthusiastic about theincreasing role of information technology within the major urban areas of thePacific Northwest: San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver.• IT firms produce hazardous waste such as lead and other heavy metals used incircuit boards, and they are particularly dependent on secure and steady sourcesof electricity.• The Pacific Northwest, and particularly its major cities
often leads the rest of theUnited States and Canada in social and economic innovation. This role iscurrently illustrated by the region’s growing connections to Asia.”