The People’s Plan for Climate Justice (and the Polluters Who Hate It)
Multnomah County has done something worth celebrating: it drafted a community-driven Climate Justice Plan (CJP) that provides a roadmap to a future where all community members can thrive. On Thursday, September 18, we have an opportunity to show the County that this roadmap is ours to draw.
This government climate plan was built from the ground up with the people most impacted by the climate crisis and decades of pollution. Frontline voices are at the center. And it’s moving at the speed of trust, not at the speed of industry lobbyists.
Here’s what that has meant in practice:
Building electrification with heat pumps. Less pollution, lower bills, and life-saving cooling when the next heat dome hits.
Rejecting false solutions. No more industry greenwashing about “renewable natural gas” from factory farms or hydrogen blending that locks us into fossil fuels.
Investing in real solutions. Safe, affordable transit, walking, and biking options that connect us while cutting emissions.
Hundreds of community members and more than 15 climate, justice, and environmental organizations are backing the plan. Why? Because it connects the dots: climate justice is racial justice, economic justice, and health justice.
Who’s mad about it? You already know.
NW Natural, the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), and their fossil fuel industry friends are clutching their pearls. They say they weren’t meaningfully engaged. Translation: Multnomah County didn’t let them write the plan.
Their talking points are as stale as they are predictable:
Calling clean, efficient applications “forced electrification” (a fossil-fuel PR term if we’ve ever heard one.)
Defending biogas from industrial slaughterhouses and fossil-based hydrogen as “green.”
Demanding more “analysis” and “engagement” (aka delays) while our communities choke on smoke and struggle to pay energy bills.
If polluters hate it, you know it’s good.
Show up this Thursday, September 18.
This Thursday, September 18, the Multnomah County Office of Sustainability will brief the Board of Commissioners on the draft plan. The meeting runs 9:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., but this presentation will begin around 11:00 a.m.
Attend in person: Multnomah County Building, 501 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR, Boardroom 100
Tune in virtually: https://www.youtube.com/c/MultCoBoard
This is our moment to show up in force. Whether you attend in person, tune in online, or submit written testimony, your presence matters. Polluters need to see that our community owns this vision, not them.
Want to testify or submit comments? Sign up here by 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 17 (Agenda item R1).