APANO Helps Put Portland Clean Energy Fund on November Ballot

Asian and Pacific Islander communities are on the frontlines of climate change, as communities that are hit first and hardest by the hurricanes, flooding, and deadly heat waves. We know that poor communities and communities of color are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. So for the last two and a half years, APANO has been working with our partners Verde, NAYA, NAACP, the Coalition of Communities of Color, Sierra Club, and 350PDX, on a ballot measure initiative to address climate change while also creating good-paying jobs for our communities.

The Portland Clean Energy Fund would raise more than $30 million per year to support new solar power and other renewable energy, energy efficiency housing upgrades, and other climate resiliency efforts. The measure includes living-wage job training for low-income Portlanders and people of color. The Portland Clean Energy Fund would be funded by a 1 percent business license surcharge that would only apply to mega-retailers with more than $1 billion per year in nation-wide gross revenue, making sure corporations pay their fair share.

In just 7 weeks, APANO staff and volunteers gathered signatures by talking to our family members, friends, and neighbors, and on Thursday, July 5, 2018, our coalition proudly submitted 60,000 signatures in support of putting the Portland Clean Energy Fund on the November ballot! APANO is excited to engage in climate solutions, because we know that addressing the climate crisis also offers us a historic opportunity to create huge numbers of good, living-wage jobs, to close the gap between rich and poor, and to strengthen democracy in our communities from the bottom up.





This program messaging brought to you by APANO CUF, a 501(c3) nonprofit organization.