NPR · 8 hours ago

Portland's billion-dollar Climate Fund Is a Blueprint for Cities

When Portland voters approved taxing large retailers like Target and Walmart in 2018, they weren't just funding climate projects-they were answering a question that redefined who gets to shape the future: "What if those most impacted by climate change were the ones designing solutions?" The resulting billion-dollar Portland Clean Energy Fund has distributed free air conditioners to vulnerable households, trained 2,000 people in green jobs, and planted thousands of trees in heat island neighborhoods, all while centering communities of color who "have been hit first and worse by the climate crisis." The fund's success has inspired cities from Denver to Ann Arbor to create their own versions, each adapted to local needs and constraints. What began as a grassroots idea workshopped by nonprofit leaders has become a blueprint for climate action that doesn't ask the most vulnerable to wait their turn, but places them at the front of the line.