Politics

Second half of this speech posted on The White House website: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/07/14/remarks-by-vice-president-harris-on-combatting-climate-change-and-building-a-clean-energy-economy/

She has also been very vocal about her proposals of banning fracking.

And we have seen, around our country, where communities have been choked by drought, have been washed out by floods, and decimated by hurricanes. Here in Baltimore, you have seen your skies darkened by wildfire smoke. And you have seen the waters of the Chesapeake Bay rise, threatening homes and businesses that have stood for generations.

It is clear that the clock is not only ticking, it is banging. And we must act.

As Vice President, as I said, I’ve traveled across our nation to speak with thousands of Americans about this crisis. I have met with students and entrepreneurs, small-business owners, community leaders, nonprofit leaders, labor leaders — folks with new approaches to reduce our emissions and accelerate our clean energy transition, but folks who often do not have access to the funds they need to make their ideas a reality. And that is a problem.

For years, one of the missing pieces in our strategy to fight the climate crisis is that we have not invested at scale in community climate action. For years, the people of the community — folks who know what their neighborhood needs and how to provide it — have not been given adequate resources to implement climate solutions that match the magnitude of the crisis we face.

And that’s why we’re here today. And that’s why we’re here today.

Today, I am proud to announce the largest investment in financing for community-based climate projects in our nation’s history. (Applause.) It’s a good day.

And one of the reasons that it is so significant is because we also — frankly, we’ve got to make up for lost time. So, by dramatically accelerating our work, we know we can lower emissions.

And we will do that by providing $20 billion to a national network of nonprofits, community lenders, and other financial institutions to fund tens of thousands of climate and clean energy projects across America. (Applause.)

So, here is what that will mean: Okay, so imagine, for example, the construction companies that build affordable housing here in Baltimore that, because of this investment, will now have the capital they need to install energy-efficient appliances in new units, to lower energy use, and to help tenants save on their electric bills.

Imagine, for example, the small-business owner who will now be able to receive zero-interest loans to electrify their fleet of delivery vehicles so we can reduce pollution and save on gas.

Imagine, for example — (applause) — right? Imagine, for example, the house of worship that will now be able to have access to loan guarantees so they can install solar panels on the roof of their building — (applause) — to generate affordable clean electricity for the entire neighborhood. Imagine.

You know, when President Biden and I took office, we set an ambitious goal. Yes, people said, “That can’t be done.” We said, “Well, you know what? We believe in dreaming with ambition and then seeing it thorough.”

And so, we set an ambitious goal to cut our greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The investment we are announcing today will help us to achieve these goals, and it will do so much more, because think also about the impact on not only the local economy, not only on an investment in the entrepreneurs and innovators from and in the community. Think about the impact on something like public health.

When we invest in clean energy and electric vehicles and reduce population [pollution], more of our children can breathe clean air and drink clean water. (Applause.)

Think of the impact on family budgets. When we help folks upgrade their heating and cooling systems, we lower the cost of electricity, which means lower energy bills for working parents so they have more money for groceries and home repairs and school supplies.

And think of all the jobs that these investments will create, including many good-paying union jobs. (Applause.) Jobs, for example, for the workers of IBEW who will install energy-efficient lighting. (Applause.) Jobs for the sheet metal workers who will replace gas furnaces with electric heat pumps. (Applause.) Jobs for the laborers who will build net-zero housing. (Applause.) Right.

So, understand, when the President and I invest in climate, we intend to invest in jobs, invest in families, and invest in America.

And this investment is also about a partnership with the private sector. You know, my whole career, I have believed in the power of public-private partnerships. I have seen how much more we can accomplish when we combine the experience and expertise of the private sector with the reach and the scale that only the government can provide.

And as the business leaders here today can confirm, this investment is an incentive — this public investment is an inventive by design for billions more dollars from the private sector.

And in all this work, we have put a special focus on communities that have been historically left out and left behind. The climate crisis impacts everybody, but it does not impact all communities equally.

Poor communities, rural communities, Native communities, and communities of color are often the hardest hit and the least able to recover.

So let’s be clear about that: The least, in terms of where investments have been made in mitigation and adaption; the hardest hit and the least able to recover.

So to address this inequity, nearly $12 billion of this funding we’re announcing today will be invested in overlooked communities. (Applause.) Yes. Yes. It’s time. It’s time. It’s time.

So, including in this vision of how we think of the best way and the fastest and most effective way to get the resources to the community, we are working specifically and intentionally with community banks. Why? Well, because as everyone here probably knows: Community banks, by their nature, are run by people who live and work in the community; people who know firsthand the incredible potential in the place they themselves call home. They not only know the needs of the community. They know the capacity of the community. They know the dreams of the community. They know the ambitions of the community. And that’s the kind of vehicle we need to actually think about how we will get these billions of dollars to the folks who know what to do with it.