About Cascadia:
- About Cascadia
- As a Social Movement
- A Brief History
- Cascadian Bioregionalism
- An Independence Movement
- Our Flag
Aside from a bioregion and growing social and cultural movement, Cascadia is host to one of the largest independence movements in North America.
Cascadia has been listed as #7 on Time Magazines top 10 most likely to succeed (at seceding) independence movements (along with Tibet, Quebec, Scotland and Catalonia), Vice Magazines personal favorite independence movement, and has been mentioned in the NYtimes, CNN, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the Portland Monthly, the Seattle Times, the Seattle Sinner, Stranger and Weekly, the Portland Mercury, Good Magazine, the Oregonian and many others.
There are several reasons why the Cascadia movement aims to foster connections and a sense of place within the Northwest region and strive towards independence. These include:
- Bioregionalism and sustainability
- Local autonomy and self-sufficiency
- Increased regional integration
- Local food networks and economies.
- A dedication to open source, dynamic and associative governing models
While some advocate for a political party, it’s much more common to hear for a push for an eventual initiative, to be approved by a democratic majority in each state, as well as surrounding counties. Support currently sits at about 25% in the United States, and ranges in western Canadian provinces between 35% in British Columbia, to 42% in Alberta, and continues to grow.
As measured only by the combination of present B.C., Washington, and Oregon statistics, Cascadia would be home to slightly more than 15 million people (15,105,870), and would have an economy generating more than $750 billion worth of goods and services annually, placing Cascadia in the worlds 20 largest economies. This number would roughly double if portions of Northern California, Idaho, and Southern Alaska were also included to $1.5 trillion, or the economic output of India or Canada.
Cascadia’s largest city Seattle has an economy slightly smaller than Thailand, but larger than Colombia and Venezuela. The region also has one of the fastest growing clean energy sectors in the world, and already exports electricity based from renewable resources to surrounding states and provinces.
The Cascadian Independence Project remains the largest organization currently promoting the idea of an independent Cascadia. Active since 2006, the majority of organizing is done through online platforms such as Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter, embracing a non-traditional, non-hierarchical, horizontal organizing model.