Esther León — Candidate for City Council, District 3
Endorsed 350PDX CJ platform? Yes
Will you support PCEF? Yes
Candidate statement:
Issues related to climate change and environmental justice are deeply intertwined with economic issues and our city’s overall stagnation. I think the most effective way to tackle these it would be to look at the problem holistically. The primary issues on voters’ minds are housing, affordability, and homelessness. These are directly related to climate and environmental justice.
Low density zoning encourages single occupancy driving while ravaging natural areas through sprawl. The affordability problem is multi-faceted, but in part due to the fact that we have a weak job market. Rather than racing to the bottom by courting corporations through tax breaks, I’d lead on policy that builds a green economy for Portland in which the growth is focused on high paying, purposeful work. Homelessness is in part fed by falling short in both of these areas. Part of my environmental policy, utilizing PCEF funds, would be a reparations program that stitches together areas that were ruptured by freeway construction.
While the current PCEF surcharge has produced a large sum of funds, it is not enough for the sort of transformative climate and environmental policy Portland needs. The increased revenue should go towards direct funding for organizations like ‘Friends of Trees’ and ‘Depave’ that are already doing the environmental justice work and could use the capital to better fund their operations and goals.
The CEI Hub is an environmental disaster in wait and truly an “elephant in the room.” While the current proposed drawndown proposal is better than nothing, it feels like half measures that don’t go far enough to resolve the issues with CEI Hub. The proposed drawdown, if implemented, would still be a historic environmental catastrophe for the city in the event of an earthquake or other natural disaster. I think a drawdown of at least 70% is necessary.
I think a proposed drawdown timeline through 2036 would be realistic, but it must be more ambitious than what is proposed. We need to collectively figure out the necessary steps to make this aggressive but attainable goal possible rather than work out a deal that only scratches the surface of the problem. Working out the steps to accomplish this is key so it isn’t just a symbolic position, but a pragmatic one.
