How one Oregon city has raised a billion dollars for climate change

Portland, Oregon has used a local climate fund to deliver multiple programs over seven years. A community solar project reduces emissions and lowers energy bills for 150 low-income families. More than 20,000 free air conditioning units help vulnerable households prepare for heat waves. Energy efficiency retrofits have been funded for 3,100 homes. Training has supported 2,000 people in renewable energy and construction fields. These efforts are enabled by the Portland Clean Energy Fund, designed as a racial, social, and climate justice fund. Voters approved the measure in 2018, and the city began a 1% retail sales tax on large corporations in 2019. The fund has raised about $1 billion and is projected to reach $1.6 billion by mid-2029.

"In the last seven years, the city of Portland, Ore., has built a community solar project to reduce emissions and lower energy bills for 150 low-income families. The city has distributed more than 20,000 free air conditioning units to help vulnerable households prepare for heat waves. It has funded energy efficiency retrofits for 3,100 homes. And 2,000 people have been trained in the renewable energy and construction fields."

"These projects have all been made possible due to an innovative billion-dollar climate fund. The Portland Clean Energy Fund is a first-of-its-kind racial, social and climate justice fund aimed at helping the city's most vulnerable residents adapt to climate change while also reducing carbon emissions. A 65% majority of voters passed the measure in 2018, and in 2019, the city began levying a 1% retail sales tax on large corporations within Portland city limits."

"Unlike a sales tax, which is paid by the consumer, the companies pay the city a small percentage of each sale; for example, a $100 purchase means the city earns $1. Since the fund began, it has garnered about $1 billion and is projected to reach $1.6 billion by mid-2029. Portland's climate fund continues to grow, even as much of the nation grapples with severe federal funding cuts for climate projects."

""It's a fund that's intended to scale up local, community-based climate solutions that address our very real climate realities, community resilience and economic resiliency," said Sam Baraso, the Portland Clean Energy Fund program manager."

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