All of us should have the freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water.

This freedom is increasingly at risk as every corner of the planet is seeing extreme weather patterns, including the people of the Pacific Northwest who have lived through record heatwaves, wildfires, and ice storms.

In fact, around 70 people died because of a lack of air conditioning during the heat dome in the summer of 2021. Most of these deaths were elderly community members who lived alone – and all of these deaths were preventable.

In 2018, Portlanders took an innovative step when we overwhelmingly passed the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF) to help our most vulnerable communities be more climate-resilient. No matter your age, race, income, or zip code, all of us should be prepared to live in a changing climate.

In response to the heat wave, the Portland Clean Energy Fund quickly invested in the Heat Response program to distribute thousands of heat pumps to vulnerable households in the city — faster than the state could take action and before the next wave could take more lives. That is just one reason PCEF is vital to our future. Climate emergencies like this are increasing; PCEF should not be used as a slush fund for special interests of politicians running for office. Every dollar must be preserved to help the most vulnerable Portlanders and neighborhoods, because these disasters are not felt equally and our communities are not equally equipped to respond.

PCEF must be preserved and protected, not treated like a bank account to cover other politicians’ priorities, as has been debated in the press by sitting city commissioners. It is not a slush fund that city commissioners running for office can raid to fill their own budget gaps, even for important programs, if those programs don’t address climate action.

We in the community who worked tirelessly to pass and implement PCEF, will not sit by quietly and allow this to happen.

We are living in a climate emergency. It’s time for Portland to act like it. The city’s own 2023 study estimates nearly $49 billion is needed to complete all the climate projects for the city. PCEF does not have dollars to spare. We have huge needs for our community to adapt to a changing climate, and less and less time to work with.

If we believe our city is a place where human life is sacred, nobody is sacrificed, and the environment is protected because it’s connected to us all, then we must act on our values and defend PCEF.

Portland voters made their priorities very clear when they approved PCEF in 2018, as they did when they approved city charter reform in 2022.

Tell Portland City Council to put the people before their own political campaigns and faithfully implement the will of the people to ensure Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Funding goes to climate action and communities that need it the most.