By Jenn Smith 

For too long, big billion-dollar corporations have been bringing in record profits while working people are squeezed tighter and tighter. Eugeneans are facing an affordability crisis, with the cost of living continuing to increase while the job market tightens and wages stagnate. 

Between 1980 and 2021, incomes have grown only 15 percent for the median earner, while they have grown over 345 percent for the top 1 percent percent. And since 2019, corporate profits have grown by 50 percent while hourly wages have grown by just 3 percent, with the richest 1 percent of Americans controlling nearly one third of the nation’s wealth. 

As wealth inequality skyrockets, so too does corporate pollution. A 2025 study from Dartmouth College found that the 111 largest corporations are responsible for over $28 trillion in climate damages from climate driven events like the 2021 Pacific Northwest heat dome, which killed over 100 people in Oregon. 

Now, working class Oregonians are facing increasingly hazardous conditions on the job whether from breathing in harmful wildfire smoke or working in extreme heat. Something needs to change if we are to ensure environmental and economic justice for the working class. 

That’s why more than 10 unions representing construction workers, electricians, service workers and teachers collectively representing tens of thousands of workers in our city, are supporting the Eugene Clean Energy Fund and voting yes on Measure 20-388 this November. By placing a 2 percent fee on the profits of only the biggest national corporations, and reinvesting the funds into renewable energy projects with strong labor and community standards here in Eugene, the Eugene Clean Energy Fund will level the playing field to improve working conditions, create jobs and stimulate our local economy.

Measure 20-388 will invest in Eugene’s workforce and economy by promoting existing state-approved apprenticeship training, job creation and business creation in the growing clean energy sector. The projects funded by the measure will help create union jobs by investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy generation. This measure can help fund, for example, high efficiency heat pumps, rooftop solar and storage, improved insulation and weatherization for commercial and public buildings, as well as major clean energy infrastructure for schools, hospitals and other public institutions. 

Tens of thousands of young people come to Eugene every year to study at the University of Oregon and at Lane Community College, but many are unable to stay in the city after they graduate because they can’t find a high paying career in Eugene. As white collar work is increasingly difficult to find, young people and recent college graduates are increasingly working in the service industry and the trades — with a recent survey showing six in 10 Gen Zers are pursuing blue collar jobs. 

Initiatives like the Eugene Clean Energy Fund can open up meaningful and financially rewarding career paths for young people and recent graduates building the renewable energy infrastructure that will power the future. This is because the initiative includes high road labor standard requirements which will ensure that projects funded by the initiative will be planned and constructed by trained workers making family wages and receiving health and retirement benefits. 

The Portland Clean Energy Fund, which ECEF is closely based on, has generated over 219,000 contractor hours with an average hourly pay of $45. Passing this initiative will ensure Eugene is a hub for clean energy innovations and manufacturing, and will help the city attract businesses that create jobs and build the infrastructure of the future. 

As an incoming Eugene City Council member, I’m especially excited about the unique opportunity this measure offers. When so much of our work is constrained by lack of funding, ECEF will create a unique opportunity for the city to put money behind its commitments to progressive causes and build the future our constituents deserve.

This fall, Eugene has the opportunity to take on corporate greed and make billion dollar corporations pay their fair share by passing this transformative measure. It’s time to redirect billion dollar profits away from Wall Street, and into programs that will lower bills, expand employment and make our city a better place to live. A vote for Measure 20-388 is a vote for a union-built, clean energy economy here in Eugene.

Jenn Smith is the president of SEIU 503 Sublocal 085 and Eugene Ward 3 City Council candidate.