Verde Advocacy
Verde builds power for environmental justice communities through our advocacy work. We combine organizing, leadership development, and popular education to build community capacity to craft policies that reflect their needs and that have the political momentum to win. We help build coalitions of frontline communities at the local, state and national level to collectively move our work forward with a focus on energy justice, transportation, air quality and water.
What We Do
Our advocacy work is grounded in practical and viable policy solutions that are developed through community experience and strong partner relationships. Our advocacy approach ensures that frontline communities are best positioned to speak to their lived experience and develop creative solutions that draw from their wisdom and creativity. We work to support frontline communities as leaders in policy and decision-making spaces and build power with other nonprofits, government entities, and community organizations, to pass policies for a climate resilient future.
2026
Legislative Memo
2026 Immigrant Justice Package
Our Impact
Verde helps craft and pass impactful policies that follow the leadership of environmental justice communities. Verde works in coalition with partners from a variety of perspectives and across Oregon to help make this work successful.
Community Capacity Building
Verde believes in following the lead of frontline communities and work to let lived experience inform our policy development while also helping people to gain the confidence and skills to be advocates in their own communities.
Coalition Development
Verde never does work alone or unilaterally. With support from many other organizations we have built successful coalitions to pass impactful climate justice policies.
Impactful Policies
Because Verde follows community leadership and works with stakeholders from around the state who are impacted by our policy approaches, we help develop durable, nuanced, and sound policies that come from many voices.
How We Do It
Water Justice
Engaging with community members across Oregon to support them in advocating for cleaner and more abundant water.
Transportation
Challenging the status quo to expand affordable and accessible options for clean and equitable transportation in our communities.
Energy
Our capacity building program, CREW focuses on developing BIPOC and woman owned firms in industry.
Air Quality
Organizing with community and in coalition to fight for healthier air in highly polluted communities.
Current Campaigns
Building Resilience is working to ensure Oregonians have healthy, affordable, resilient homes & buildings that run on clean energy.
Move Oregon Forward is advocating for a transportation system that is safe, affordable, accountable, and climate-forward.
Oregon for All advances immigrant justice to build a more welcoming and prosperous state through education, research, organizing, and policy advocacy
Oregon Water Futures Project advances water equity and policy change.
Past Advocacy Successes
Passage of the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefit Fund (PCEF) - Portland’s clean energy transition is being made possible by a 1% tax on the largest corporations, securing over a billion dollars in the first five years. The fund is supporting community solar development, providing homeowners with energy-efficient heating and cooling units, weatherizing homes, reducing urban heat by planting trees, and more.
Owens-Brockway Settlement - Cully-based glass recycling facility settled an enforcement action for repeated violations of the Clean Air Act. Owens-Brockway agreed to install pollution controls and reduce their emissions by 95%.
100% Clean Electricity (HB 2021) - In 2021, Verde helped secure a major advocacy win requiring electric utilities to reduce emissions to zero by 2050. The major utilities must meet reduction limits along the way.