For Immediate Release
Contact: Damon Motz-Storey, damon.motz-storey@sierraclub.org, 303.913.5634 (c)
[Portland, OR] – The one-of-a-kind Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF) was passed by voters in 2018 to uniquely address climate resilience and environmental justice. The Sierra Club Oregon Chapter applauds today’s legal challenge filed by concerned Portlanders to protect PCEF from a ballot initiative that would divert its funding.
Recently, Portland’s police union joined a wealthy downtown property owner to announce an initiative petition for the November 2026 ballot that would, if successful, divert 25% of the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund’s annual revenue to recruiting, hiring, and equipping police officers. On December 10, three Portlanders filed an extensive legal challenge with Multnomah County Circuit Court questioning the constitutionality of the initiative language.
In response, Sierra Club Oregon Chapter Director Damon Motz-Storey released the following statement:
“Climate change is happening here and now, and the Portland Clean Energy Fund is our best line of defense in this current Presidential Administration. The purpose of this unique program is to make sure nobody is left behind by the green economy and projects that protect people from extreme heat, cold, and megafires. The police union’s attempt to steal $50 million every year from this life-saving program is brazen and shameful. I am immensely grateful to the Portlanders who stood up to this initiative and pointed out its many flaws.”
Just this month PCEF announced $64 million in new grants for renewable energy projects, transportation decarbonization, green workforce development, regenerative agriculture, and other community climate initiatives. Taken together these projects will result in a lifetime reduction of roughly 76,200 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, and are irreplaceable as a means to a clean energy future.
In the face of increasingly extreme weather, a statewide budget shortage, and a hostile federal administration, Portland must defend its commitment to climate resilience, not undermine it.
For more information on the Portland Clean Energy Fund, visit https://www.portland.gov/bps/cleanenergy.
The Sierra Club is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots environmental advocacy organization. The Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club represents 50,000 members and supporters statewide in support of, and defense of, Oregon’s places and people.
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