“Clean Energy, Better Business & Portland”

Our business community needs to do better and support clean energy today.

It is both disconcerting and all too knowable that the Portland Business Alliance would oppose the Portland Clean Energy Initiative. This predictable lack of foresight and leadership is not a position the City of Portland and our business community can afford to take in the present day.

There is a better way of doing business, one that is more equitable for all and is being championed by leaders and doers with Business for a Better Portland. That is where my dollars will be going in the New Year. It’s past time for old capitalism to be shown the door.

Taking action on climate, increased solar power, job training for low-income workers and energy efficiency projects & reduced utility bills.

It all sounds good, so what’s the rub? If approved by voters, the initiative will collect a meager fee – a 1 percent “business license surcharge” – to Portland retailers that have annual total revenues of at least $1 billion.

Predictably, opponents of the the measure include big businesses that can, and should, do more: Amazon, Comcast, Walmart, Standard Insurance, US Bank, Papé, the Greenbrier Companies, Bank of America, and Kroger, the retail giant that owns Fred Meyer. This should not surprise you if you have been paying attention to who should be responsible in addressing climate change over the past 25+ years.

The PBA’s new president and CEO, Andrew Hoan, stated that a 1 percent tax would be directly passed on to Portlanders – a typical retort of half baked logic and pseudo (economic) science. The City of Portland needs real leadership from our business community – there is a better way.

Business For A Better Portland offers an alternative to the status quo.

In 2018, BBPDX has identified four issue areas to address to ensure Portland’s future is an equitable city where prosperity can be shared by all. These are noted as follows:

• Safe Transportation
• Equity in Entrepreneurship & Access to Capital
• Community & Capital
• Housing & Homelessness

As business leaders, community activists and residents, we all can and need to do better – our very future is at stake. Clean energy is better for business and better for Portland.

Are you a business owner, entrepreneur or executive who believes in a progressive future for our city?

I do too. I’d like to hear more about your business over coffee.