At the Sierra Club we know that climate change is perhaps the most important environmental issue of our time. And though the climate crisis impacts everyone, those impacts do not fall equally upon all communities. We have learned that our best path forward is climate action that advances racial and economic equity, because centuries of racist policies and income inequality have left communities of color and low-income communities less able to withstand the impacts of climate change.
That is why we joined the alliance of environmental organizations and organizations led by Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities working on the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF) ballot initiative in 2018—one of our proudest local victories. PCEF funds are already doing essential work across Portland. The pilot round of funding, totaling $8.6 million and launched less than a year ago, is at work right now assisting affordable housing providers in improving energy efficiency and bringing down costs for residents. Funds are replacing pavement with cooling green infrastructure in neighborhood heat islands, and creating pathways into the green workforce for low-income communities and communities of color that have historically been shut out from these opportunities.
We celebrate these wins for frontline communities because we believe that all people deserve to live with dignity and respect in a changing climate. All people deserve to live in a healthy environment, which includes safe temperatures and air that is healthy to breathe. BIPOC and low-income people experience the worst harm from climate change -- from heat waves to wildfire smoke. These disparities are not a coincidence, but rather the direct result of legacies of redlining, the dismantling of the social safety nets, and other factors that have forced families to, for example, live in drafty homes that are less resilient to deadly cold snaps and heat waves alike. Because they have the most at stake and have the best visibility into the solutions, BIPOC and low-income communities are the best positioned to lead the movement for a stable climate and healthy environment for all. Thus it’s imperative that Sierra Club and communities with less proximity to the frontlines listen and work in solidarity with our most impacted neighbors.
Our primary obstacle has been the wealthiest businesses in leadership positions at Portland’s Chamber of Commerce, the Portland Business Alliance. PCEF places just a 1% surcharge on the Portland sales of billion-dollar companies with over $500,000 in annual Portland sales. The Portland Business Alliance has fought the Portland Clean Energy Fund every step of the way — from back in 2018 when we were campaigning to pass the PCEF ballot initiative, to today in a recent letter to Portland City Council demanding outlandish redirections of PCEF funds to backfill unrelated projects. The letter was positioned as a response to the City of Portland’s first audit of the PCEF program. But the findings of the audit were very normal for a program in this stage of development, as the City Auditor said herself in a media interview. PCEF's leaders say the audit’s recommendations will be implemented: The PCEF staff, its Grant Committee, and Commissioner Carmen Rubio have already affirmed the audit’s recommendations and responded with their timeline for fulfilling them.
While we welcome constructive criticism from people arriving at the table in good faith, that is not the track record the Portland Business Alliance has proven for itself. The Portland Business Alliance instead continues efforts to shield their wealthiest members from paying their fair share towards addressing the climate crisis, and offers no alternatives to PCEF when proposing tearing it down.
Corporate interests getting in the way of climate action and racial and social justice is nothing new. We are confident in our belief that all people deserve a healthy environment, and we are confident that Portlanders, who overwhelmingly approved this ballot measure in 2018, continue to stand with us. PCEF's purpose is a democratic mandate: The ballot measure that created PCEF was unambiguous about its purpose: to provide a long-term source of funding for projects that both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote economic, social, and environmental benefits that target the communities that stand to face the climate crisis first and worst.
In its first-ever round of funding, PCEF served its priority populations with planning grants and physical improvements and is tracking resultant greenhouse gas emissions reductions. In a smart, responsive move, the PCEF program also fast-tracked emergency funds for deploying efficient heat and cooling pumps into low-income homes in Portland to protect against future extreme heat waves akin to the 2021 heat dome climate disaster that claimed the lives of over 96 Oregonians. We will continue to support PCEF in line with the will of Portland voters and the best interests of impacted communities.
If you would like to help defend the Portland Clean Energy Fund, contact Laura Stevens, Senior Organizing Representative, at laura.stevens@sierraclub.org.