Portland City Council votes to establish climate action fund

Nov. 18—Portland will soon have a pool of money dedicated to paying for projects that reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses released by the city.

The Portland City Council voted Monday night to establish a municipal climate action fund, which was recommended by city staff and the council's finance and sustainability and transportation committees. Similar to the city's Jill Duson Housing Trust Fund, this pot of money can only be used for its designated purpose — to cut down the city's carbon emissions.

A major point of discussion among councilors was what exactly counts as an effort to reduce carbon emissions.

The ordinance establishing the fund was written to allow spending both on initiatives to "advance strategies in One Climate Future" and to fund costs of operating the sustainability office including "staff salaries, interns, public outreach and engagement, professional development, software licenses or subscriptions."

One Climate Future is a shared climate action plan for the cities of Portland and South Portland that lays out a plan for reducing contributions to climate change and adapting to it. It includes goals such as transitioning to renewable electricity and reducing waste.

During public comment, several people urged the council to limit use of the fund to specific projects that would cut emissions, and to use other funds to pay salaries and office administration costs.

"We are running out of time as demonstrated by the warming of the Gulf of Maine, our rising sea level and worsening storms that have caused damage up and down the Maine coast," said Ellen Grant. She urged the council to approve the ordinance.

Councilor Anna Bullett proposed an amendment, which passed unanimously, to cap allowed spending from the fund at $125,000 for staff salaries, with the rest going to actionable projects to advance the One Climate Future goals. The council will have to approve any money spent from the fund.

"We have a lot of projects to get done, so there's certainly a need for revenue to invest in those projects," said Troy Moon, the city's sustainability director, in an interview before the meeting.

The council briefly discussed using even more specific language in the ordinance to specify that the money be used only for renewable energy projects, but decided it might be prohibitively specific. The amendment for more specific language was proposed by Councilor Kate Sykes.

"I worry this will paint us into a corner," said Councilor April Fournier. Sykes quickly withdrew her amendment and agreed with Fournier.

The establishment of the fund passed unanimously.

The new fund will be paid for through the sale of the city's renewable energy credits and fines for climate-related ordinance violations, such as the city's pesticide ban.

Portland has collected about 13,500 renewable energy credits since it began participating in solar and hydropower projects around the state a few years ago, said Moon.

Renewable energy credits are a legal instrument that represent ownership over green energy.

The credits can either be retired, meaning the city can cash them in with the North American Renewables Registry and claim to be using green energy, or they can be sold. The registry is the official platform for many states, including Maine, to track renewable energy use. Utility companies are frequent buyers of renewable energy credits because often they need to meet a green energy standard each year. Credits sell for about $38 each, said Moon.

Moon said that Portland will sell all of its renewable energy credits to feed the climate action fund. That means that Portland won't be able to take credit for that renewable energy, but the city will be able to bring in more money by selling those credits. He said that while there's a wide range of projects the fund could support in the coming years, the most immediate need is to reduce emissions from buildings.

"Maybe there's a way to invest in upgrading systems in city buildings. We could invest in equipment or hire an engineering consultant to evaluate a roof to see if we could put solar on it, things like that," said Moon.

ETHICS BOARD

The council also postponed a vote to establish an ethics board, comprised of citizens who would recommend a code of ethics for elected and appointed officials and city employees. The city voted to establish the board in 2022.

If established, the board would review the ethics code every three years, render written decisions regarding alleged code violations, and issue advisory opinions on questions pertaining to the city charter, code of ethics and council rules.

Part of the board's work would also be to "hear complaints and render written decisions with findings of fact regarding alleged violations of the City's Code of Ethics ordinance."

However, the ordinance put forth Monday included an exception for city and school employees, for whom violations would be referred to the city manager or superintendent, in an effort to protect the privacy of lower-level employees.

Sykes proposed an amendment that would specifically not exempt the city manager, city clerk, corporation council or the mayor from the ethics board ruling directly on any alleged violations. After brief discussion, Councilor Anna Trevorrow put forth a motion to postpone the vote and schedule a workshop to finesse the details of the board.

"There is just more to be worked out in this language and I think we should give it the time that it deserves," said Trevorrow.

The council voted 7-2 to postpone the vote, with only Councilors Fournier and Roberto Rodriguez voting against the delay. The workshop on the ordinance will likely take place in January or February.

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