In 2018, the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF) campaign secured a landslide ballot measure victory in Portland, establishing a multi-million dollar municipal fund that addresses climate, economic, and racial justice by providing funding for renewable energy projects, job training and apprenticeship programs, and regenerative agriculture. Last year, we got to look “under the hood” with PCEF Steering Committee members to cover the history of the campaign, what PCEF does, and how the community-led coalition was able to win at the ballot box. 

In a follow-up webinar, we came back together to share new developments on the victory and cover topics including:

• How has PCEF been implemented, and how is it helping the community build political power? 
• What lessons have been learned since winning the legislation, and what challenges and insights does that bring? 
• What would it take to replicate this winning model in your own context and municipality?

Recognize the public appetite for more economic help from the federal government. This April 2021 survey reveals that a majority of likely voters want Congress to pass another economic relief bill, in addition to the $1.9 trillion bill approved in March. Support runs across party lines, with people under 45 and voters of color most heavily in favor. Support holds true no matter the price tag, aside from self-identified Republicans being evenly divided over the notion of a $10 trillion bill.             

This interactive webinar covered the process of how this collaboration between environmental justice and labor forces was facilitated, how they built a shared vision around resilience, a rundown of the report's key findings, and a guided activity for how to apply the report's insights to participants' local communities and organizing work.

Increasing accessibility, affordability, and reliability of public transit is imperative for BIPOC, low-income people, those living in rural areas, seniors, youth, and people with disabilities. COVID-19 exacerbated transportation inaccessibility because of limited routes and slashed service times. It also posed significant threats to transit workers who were not given adequate protection. Transit agencies must have safeguards in place to combat the negative effects of future pandemics as well as climate change. Such policies include better sick and family leave policies for transit drivers and electrification of the transportation sector to meet climate goals.             

California and the US are increasingly beset by climate-fueled disasters like wildfires, extreme heat, and power blackouts. These events put additional stress on frayed hard and social infrastructure systems, and disproportionately impact working-class communities of color. To adapt to these changes, society must update our notion of disaster response to increase resilience in these systems before disasters strike. This report offers two models for this response: 1) building and normalizing resilience hubs where community members gather and organize both in good times and bad, and 2) increasing in-home resilience by recognizing homecare workers as effective agents for assisting vulnerable populations and bridging authorities and the frontlines. The report goes on to recommend specific ways to set up resilience hubs, train care workers, and develop forward-thinking emergency response plans to avert human disasters after natural disasters.

This report looks at the intersection of pollution from refining and burning fossil fuels, repiratory diseases caused or exacerbated by this pollution, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and race and racial inequality in the United States. It makes the case that the CARES Act constitutes a bailout of the dirty energy sector that spent more to prop-up the fossil fuel industry than it did on health care supplies and investments, even as this industry contributes to the adverse health outcomes from the COVID-19 pandemic in communities of color. The report's key findings also link large financial sector players like big banks, asset management companies, private equity and insurance companies to the chain of carbon and chemical emissions that have disproprotionately negative impacts on communities of color and low-income communities.            

This report examines shifts in climate opinion across demographic groups, based on responses to surveys in 2016, 2017, and 2019. Key findings include:

• The electorate increasingly and indiscriminately sees climate change as an important issue, with consensus growing consistently across demographic groups.
• Black and Asian American respondents both overwhelmingly viewed climate change as important at significantly higher levels than in 2016.
• One of the most prominent shifts in opinion on climate change occurred among Independent voters, with a margin widening from 11 to 25 percentage points.
• Generally, opinions on climate change were similar and increased at a similar pace across demographic groups separated by education level.

In November 2018, residents of Portland, Oregon, made history by passing The Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF), a breakthrough initiative that will raise an estimated $44-$61 million annually to support local clean energy and economic justice initiatives. The fund passed with 65 percent of the vote and support from a long list of local businesses and community organizations, including faith leaders, labor unions, and more. This Executive Summary captures toplines on what the campaign learned about what it takes to win.

The top issues for Asian Americans in California are health care, education and the environment. 46% of Asian-Americans in California considered "Environment" an "Extremely important" voting issue for them in the 2020 election. 

This survey of ~1600 registered Asian American voters found high support for strong climate legislation, across ethnic sub-groups including Asian Indian (87% agree - 65% "strongly" and 22% "somewhat"); Vietnamese (71% agree - 59% "strongly" and 12% "somewhat"); and Korean (79% agree - 52% "strongly" and 27% "somewhat").