Vice President Kamala Harris — a self-professed “water policy geek” — took part in a discussion on the White House’s efforts to combat climate change and build a “clean energy economy” at Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Wednesday.
what you need to know
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- Vice President Kamala Harris visited Georgia on Wednesday and on Wednesday spoke about White House efforts to tackle climate change and build a “clean action economy.”
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- Harris described the intersectionality between climate change and social justice, pointing to the impact of an unhealthy environment on disadvantaged communities
- The vice president also linked climate policy to infrastructure and public health, and addressed federal funding earmarked for lead pipe and utility line replacements
“I grew up on the subject in many ways, but I think it’s one of the most pressing issues of our time,” Harris said. “Now that our administration is prioritizing what we need to do in terms of solutions, let’s just jump in and jump forward, but in a way that’s inclusive.”
“We’re asking affected communities to take the lead and not telling them what we’re going to do for them,” she continued.
The “transformational moment” of climate change can only be achieved if Americans work together for solutions and take a “whole-of-government approach” to “understand the excitement we should all feel at the opportunity of this moment.”
“I’m thinking about this in the context of establishing a new industry, a clean energy economy,” Harris said, addressing her holistic view of how such an economy would transform the career prospects of students in Georgia Tech’s audience, as well as the impact on other nations, such as those in the Caribbean, already suffering the effects of disrupted climate patterns.
“We sneeze and they catch cold — you look at the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, and they’re the most industrial, and the United States is one of them,” Harris said. “Then look, for example, at the Caribbean states, which aren’t the biggest emitters … but are paying the biggest price” due to land erosion and the impact of extreme weather events on tourism.
Harris repeatedly recalled the intersections between climate action and social justice, noting that the communities most often affected by poor environmental conditions are also at a disadvantage when they respond, such as low-income communities living in areas where air pollution is worst is. or in areas where clean water is not accessible.
The $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill signed into law by President Joe Biden last year contains about $50 billion in clean water initiatives, including $15 billion in loans and grants Dollars for states to replace lead pipes and utility lines.
“You look at Flint, Michigan, and you look at so many other places where our babies have been drinking toxic water, which is affecting their health and their ability to learn,” Harris said. “That’s what I mean by the intersections because it’s an environmental issue, but it’s also an educational equity issue and an educational equity issue and a public health issue.”
The conversation that Dr. Isaiah Bolden, Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia Tech, and Dr. Marshall Shepherd, the University of Georgia’s atmospheric sciences program director, gave Harris an opportunity to speak about the White House’s infrastructure, climate and technology investments while also offering to pet the policy plank.
“Okay, so, water policy,” Harris said, setting the table for a three-minute response on issues that matter most to her.
Clean water is a right that all people should have access to, Harris said, and extreme droughts that are happening around the world are a humanitarian and national security concern.
“It doesn’t take much to think that if people don’t have water where they live, they will bathe where they live and they will go to other places,” Harris said. “And if we think about it globally, inevitably they’re going to go to places that speak a different language and pray to a different god … and then you probably see the beginning of a conflict.”
Jumping from idea to idea, Harris touched on water policy diversification with equal emphasis on conservation, recycling, stormwater collection and storage, flooding, desalination, and the labor investment needed to make it all happen—an idea that turned her away from pure water policy, but it envisions the rest of the clean energy economy.
“I know we have students from so many universities and colleges in the area, and I really see this as an area that’s so broad in terms of the skills required,” Harris said. “That’s the thing … about what’s really exciting about this moment. There’s going to be a lot of new jobs, there’s going to be a lot of new work — we’re talking about a new approach, a new industry, and we need you there to do the translations that are necessary for people to be clear about the concept.”
