I am running to be a Climate Justice Commissioner.
Climate justice is the issue of our lifetimes. Currently, there is no climate justice champion on the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners. I will be the Climate Justice Commissioner.
Multnomah county has the opportunity and obligation to be radical on climate and sustainability. That means investing in the county’s ability to provide solutions. It also means ending impunity for polluters and extractive industries.
As commissioner I will:
Ensure that the Climate Justice Plan is implemented, not just adopted and then shelved.
Allocate enough funding and authority to the Office of Sustainability for current and future climate goals to be achieved.
Fight at the dais and support the Office of Sustainability to actually implement the county’s Climate Justice Plan.
Prioritize equitable clean energy.
Oversight of private utility companies
Transitioning to public power utilities produced as renewably and sustainably as possible
Increase community solar and establish community micro solar grids.
Stop data center development without community benefits agreements.
CEI Hub mitigation; fuel draw down, and decommissioning
Electrification of homes and businesses.
Make the county safer for residents.
Regulating chemical storage along Columbia Boulevard
Clean air policies, targeting chemical leakages, wood burning, and diesel fumes.
Implementing a Clean Air district
Clean water policies, targeting Cyanobacteria blooms
Increasing shade equity and tree canopy across the county, especially in East County neighborhoods
Hold polluters accountable.
Multnomah county is currently suing Exxon mobil, Shell, Chevron, BP and ConocoPhillips for their role in the deadly 2021 Pacific Northwest Heat Dome for $50 billion. Lawsuits are one of the powers of the Board of Commissioners, and I will carry this lawsuit forward, until we get restitution.
As County Commissioner I will continue to use any and all legal actions I can take to hold Zenith, Northwest Natural, and others accountable for their role in the climate crisis and threats to public health.
I support new ways for local governments to tackle the problems we have inherited from decades of corporate greed; including a progressive tax on the fuel storage depots at the CEI hub, financially incentivizing safer fuel storage practices, draw downs, and decommissioning. I support community solar, a rate payers union, and the municipalization of services. We need to plan for increased electricity generation and storage.
I am a Democratic Socialist. If elected, I will partner with other Democratic Socialists in office – on Portland’s city council and in the state legislature – to implement strong policies and oversight we need, at every level of government, to accomplish our goal of climate justice in our lifetimes. As a community organizer, and the co-chair of the Portland DSA Resiliency Working group, I am connected to many community members who have been working on grassroots community resilience, emergency preparedness, and adaptive capacity.
Someday, I will have to face my kids, and yours. I will have to answer for what I did in these times, and I will work for my life to have an answer I can be proud of.