In 2018, voters in Portland, Oregon, approved a first of its kind climate and justice fund aimed at investing in projects in historically marginalized communities.

Since then, the fund has grown, and so has the debate over how that money should be spent.

Stephanie Sye reports as part of our series Tipping Point.

Our community members die 10 years younger than everywhere else because of the lack of clean air.

At a city council hearing last month in Portland, Oregon, in making sure that we make more progress on

decarbonization of our transportation sector. Climate change and environmental justice were on the

agenda. This is going to cause an issue.

This is going to cause a delay in some of these programs. Tell the truth. The debate on this day,

how to spend about $15 million from a roughly $1.6 billion pool of money, known as the Portland

Clean Energy Fund, or PCEF.

There is no other fund like this in the nation.

Monica Samoa is a climate and environment reporter for Oregon Public Broadcasting.

So the Portland Clean Energy Fund is a 1% tax that is imposed on large retailers in the city. The purpose of the fund is to

address social, racial, and climate justice, as well as to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

When Portland voters created this fund eight years ago, Samayoa says it was expected to generate

about $60 million annually.

But when the pandemic hit and more people turned to large retailers online, the fund had an unexpected windfall.

It's actually generating $200 million a year.

And that threw off everyone because they were thinking what are we going to do

with these large amounts of money the money earmarked for both large and small

climate-related projects in underserved communities has been a crucial lifeline for

families like 40-year-old Kerry Roe and her two young children.

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