In 2018, Portlanders made history by passing Measure 26-201, the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF) ballot initiative, which created the first climate-fund measure in the country created by and for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities and others on the frontlines of climate change. PCEF invests over $150 million a year in clean energy projects, job training opportunities, and green infrastructure development like shade equity projects, with BIPOC and other frontline community members overseeing how the fund is distributed.

Now, members of the Portland City Council are trying to change city code so that they can redirect PCEF money to go toward funding city bureaus over the next five years, to make up for budget shortfalls. If Portland City Council redirects PCEF money this way, they would be going against the 65% of Portlanders who voted for PCEF in 2018, and against the BIPOC-led initiative to establish the fund. We stand with the decisions of the PCEF Committee, which was created to uphold the original intentions of PCEF to be an initiative by and for frontline communities.