Mitch Green — Candidate for City Council, District 4
Endorsed: Shade Equity Platform, CEI Hub Platform
Candidate statement:
My general orientation is to approach climate change and environmental justice with urgency. In addition to investing in clean energy resources and resiliency investments, I want to take on the fossil fuel industry in Portland. To me, the CEI Hub is an example of the urgency we need from city council.
I divide this into two workstreams:
Workstream 1: Work with the county to pass a joint resolution that establishing a risk bonding program for the owners of the tanks that CEI. I support the proposal published recently by John Talberth at CSE, and will push for a policy that requires up-front funding of an escrow account to pay for any financial damages from a disaster at the hub.
Workstream 2: After passing a risk bonding approach, the politics are easier to lobby the state for relocation of the tanks. The long term goal is to make them irrelevant, but Linnton, North Portland, and Willamette and lower Columbia can’t wait. There are brownfield sites in parts of Oregon that can host tanks that are not situated on liquefaction risk soil. SB 1567 was a start but we have a lot more work to do
My throughline to all of this is to continue to organize closely with Tank the Tanks. I have been endorsed by Nancy Hiser due to my commitment to find a solution as quickly as possible.
Will you ensure the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF) remains climate-focused in line with what voters intended?
Yes