How green was my wash

I see that Portland's 1 percent retail sales tax on transactions with large retailers is really piling up the dough. It's all supposed to be spent on "clean energy," but let's face it, it's a pork pot for nonprofits and a thinly disguised welfare program.

City Council is scheduled to vote on whether to formally amend changes made earlier this year and double the Portland Clean Energy Fund’s original five-year $750 million Climate Investment Plan....

The money is used to fund a range of climate related projects, including energy-efficient retrofits, renewable energy development and job training in the construction and energy fields. Already tax forecasts have been much higher than expected, at $1.2 billion. The latest forecasts now estimate the fund will have an additional $400 million...

There's so much slush accumulating in the trough that now the city is going to skim a bunch of it off and use it to fatten city bureaucracy budgets. 

If City Council approves them, the amendments would more than double the amount of the original plan to $1.591 billion over the next five years.

The proposed changes include:

...Sending an additional $411 million to city bureaus through the 2024 City Climate Projects, including an increase of $12.3 million for inflation costs. The total going to city bureaus could be more than $623 million. 

The level of fakery here is truly stunning. But even more depressing is how many voters in Portland think it's wonderful. All the hipsters living in those hideous apartment bunkers vote gleefully for this kind of stuff. Add their votes to those of the blue-haired ex-hippies who think Woodstock was 20 years ago, and are still living in the Age of Aquarius. And of course, the nonprofit fly-by-nighters and government employee unions who feast on the pork. A working stiff doesn't stand a chance around here.

For $1.6 billion, a well-managed city could become a world leader in advancing clean energy technology. But it won't in Portland. The money, which will come out of consumers' pockets, will be frittered away supporting grifters and giving away free stuff wth no accountability. It's really too bad.