PROGRAM OVERVIEW
CSE uses its economic, scientific and legal expertise to develop innovative policy solutions to some of humanity’s most tenacious challenges. We work on market based solutions as well as new or amended regulatory approaches. We work with partners to develop solutions that are internationally applicable but tailored to institutions that operate at the local level. We have successfully fought for changes in public policies to protect at risk forests, farmland, wetlands, and wildlife habitat, halt new fossil fuel infrastructure, change priorities for public finance and help alleviate the growing inequality divide through affordable housing and living wages. Our policy work takes two basic forms:
- Model legislation – CSE works with partners and legislators at the national, state, and local levels to draft model laws, resolutions, ordinances that speed the transition to a sustainable society and halt new projects or programs that accelerate climate change, extinction and poverty.
- Regulatory reform – CSE works within the administrative processes of federal, state, and local public agencies to update regulations, rules, and guidance manuals to better reflect legislative intent, best available science and best practice.
PROGRAM NEWS AND UPDATES

The Portland Model for Climate and Energy Action
Any lingering doubt about whether Portlanders were ready to vote for strong climate and energy action was extinguished on election night when the Portland Clean Energy Initiative (PCEI) garnered a 63% ‘yes’ vote. This grassroots designed and driven measure taxes large retailers to fund clean energy initiatives, energy efficiency, workforce ... Read More

Industry Attack on Portland Fossil Fuel Policy Fails
July 31, 2018 (Portland, Ore.) — Today, a coalition of public interest groups celebrated news that opponents of Portland’s fossil fuel ordinance have failed in their efforts to overturn the City’s landmark law. In 2016, Portland’s City Council voted unanimously to prohibit new fossil fuel infrastructure such as oil and ... Read More

Report: Climate legislation must include Big Timber
Carbon sequestration dead zones are expanding. Clearcutting is Oregon’s single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Millions of acres of industrial tree plantations present huge public health risks because they are far more susceptible to fires, floods, unhealthy water temperatures and droughts than the natural forests they’ve replaced. But there ... Read More

Forest Carbon Tax and Reward: Creating more jobs and carbon in the woods.
Deforestation, forest degradation, and unsustainable forest practices are major drivers of climate change. Deforestation and other land-use changes have released approximately 150 gigatons of carbon to the atmosphere since 1850, roughly one-fifth of the current atmospheric total. The contributions from forest degradation (i.e. converting real forests into tree plantations) and ... Read More

Fossil Fuel Risk Bonds: Making Polluters Pay for the Climate Crisis
One of the most aggravating aspects of the climate crisis is the fact that fossil fuel companies are passing on huge financial risks to taxpayers and politicians are simply turning their backs on the problem instead of holding those companies accountable. At each stage of the fossil fuel product life ... Read More