Amy Winton doesn’t like that she has to depend on fossil gas for her restaurant, Mexican taquería Pandita in Eugene, Oregon. But she’s stuck with the gas-fueled burners, heaters, and outdoor fireplace that came with the space. 

“We just don’t have the funds” to switch to electric equipment, Winton said. ​“If we had the financial backing for it, we could do it.”

In the wake of the Trump administration’s legally dubious clawback of billions of dollars in federal climate incentives, Eugene voters will have the chance this November to create their own clean energy funding. By imposing a fee on billion-dollar corporations, the ballot measure could deliver a windfall for projects that reduce planet-heating emissions, including restaurant retrofits.

If the measure passes, behemoth companies like Amazon, Chase, Home Depot, Walmart, and Wells Fargo that make both $1 billion or more in gross profits nationally and at least $500,000 in gross profits within Eugene will be charged a 2% fee on those profits made within city limits. The initiative exempts gross profits from groceries, medicines, residential garbage and recycling, and healthcare services.

The initiative is expected to bring in $15 million to $37 million per year to support renewable-energy and efficiency programs, clean energy job training, and green infrastructure projects that sequester carbon, like tree planting. The fund would prioritize projects that benefit low-income and historically marginalized communities.

“ We’re really excited about … making big corporate retailers that are making over $ 1 billion a year pay their fair share,” said Jennifer Davis, executive director at Eugene-based environmental justice nonprofit Beyond Toxics, which supports the measure.

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