Toulan School professor and alum help Portland take steps toward climate goal

For the past year, Dr. Megan Horst (associate professor of Urban Studies and Planning and MURP program director) and Maria Sipin (2018 graduate of the MURP program) have been helping the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF) develop a strategy for using funds to support sustainable transportation. On September 27, 2023, their Climate Investment Plan (CIP) was approved by the Portland City Council.

Anyone can request funds from this grant, but Horst and Sipin wanted to make sure that communities already feeling the effects of climate change would benefit from any and all projects funded by the PCEF. Per the plan, the CIP “serves as a five-year roadmap for PCEF’s investments…Projects funded by PCEF must provide both climate and racial, social, and/or economic justice benefits.”

Read more about the program and funds here:

• With passage of PCEF, an $80 million boost for bikes and climate-friendly transportation
• Who helped Portland build an inclusive climate investment plan? Hint: PSU is involved
• PCEF Climate Investment Plan