QuickTake:

If passed, the measure would require corporations earning more $1 billion in profits annually in the United States, and over $500,000 in profits in the city of Eugene to pay a 2% fee on gross profits.

A measure that would require large corporations to pay fees to help fund local environmental projects has qualified for Eugene’s November ballot.

City officials on Wednesday, Aug. 5, certified that organizers had submitted enough valid signatures to place the Eugene Clean Energy Fund on the ballot. Supporters said they had submitted about 14,000 signatures, about 5,000 more than required, to ensure that they had enough valid signatures.

The measure would require corporations earning more than $1 billion in profits annually in the United States and over $500,000 in profits within the city of Eugene to pay a 2% fee on gross profits from retail sales in Eugene.

Organizers of the campaign estimate the fund would generate at least $15 million annually.

This funding would be distributed to support renewable energy for homes, businesses and schools, while also developing clean energy jobs, green infrastructure like wetlands and canopy expansion, and other future projects.

The measure has been organized by a coalition of local nonprofit organizations, including Beyond Toxics, Breach Collective, Oregon Just Transition Alliance and the Sierra Club.

“We’re obviously so excited, and it’s a testament to the support we already feel in the community,” said Aya Cockram, co-chief petitioner for the initiative and Oregon energy transition organizer with Breach Collective, a climate justice nonprofit based in Oregon. “We’re already hitting the ground running … to really make sure folks know what the Eugene Clean Energy Fund is really about because we’re extremely confident that if Eugene voters know what it’s going to do, they are going to vote yes.”

The initiative is based on the Portland Clean Energy Fund, which passed in 2018, and has since generated about $1.7 billion.

Organizers said it was fitting that the measure won a spot on the ballot during the same week when smoke from wildfires created hazardous air conditions in Eugene.

“To qualify during the week where our community was blanketed in smoke was significant,” Cockram said. “This summer and historic wildfire season is a reminder of how important it is to invest in our communities’ future because we are experiencing the effects of the climate crisis unless we take bold actions to back up the ambitious climate goals we have.”