Vice President Kamala Harris Speaks on Climate at Georgia Tech

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Vice President Kamala Harris spoke on climate issues at Georgia Tech on February 8. (Courtesy of Georgia Tech)

Vice President Kamala Harris visited Atlanta Wednesday for a conversation on the White House’s efforts to address climate-related issues following President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday night.

Speaking with University of Georgia professor Marshall Shepherd and Georgia Tech professor Isaiah Bolden at the Techs Ferst Center for the Arts, Harris addressed the inequity surrounding environmental issues, such as clean drinking water in places like Flint, Michigan and Jackson, Miss.

Communities that are disproportionately affected by, say, poor air quality, it doesn’t take long to realize that some of the poorest air quality areas in our nation are the same places where people of color and low-income communities, she said.

Harris also mentioned the enthusiasm for electric vehicles, especially electric school buses, and the public health implications of reducing diesel emissions to which children are exposed, as well as the fact that American companies are producing them.

Left out was a mention of Fort Valley, Georgia-based Blue Bird, which has been touted for its work on electric school buses in recent years, or any other Georgia-specific work on climate, green energy, or sources of alternative mobility. Georgia is also home to a growing electric vehicle and battery manufacturing industry, with several multi-billion dollar announcements made in the past year and both Democrats and Republicans claiming credit for the investments.

Shepherd said the Biden administration’s investments in laws like the Inflation Reduction Act and in fighting issues like hurricanes and floods reflect the real-world impact of a changing climate.

It’s not about polar bears, he said. I like polar bears, they are cute. But these are kitchen table matters that pertain to life in Oakland, California; Canton, Georgia; Nashville, Tennessee.

Biden’s speech, which largely focused on calls for unity and completing work on key policies amid criticism from Republicans including Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, also touted passage of the Inflation Reduction Act as the l most significant investment ever made in climate change.

Lower bills, create American jobs, lead the world to a clean energy future, he said of the law. I have visited the devastating aftermath of record floods, droughts, storms and wildfires, from Arizona to New Mexico to the Canadian border. More lumber was burned than I observed from helicopters in the entire state of Missouri. And don’t we have global warming?

This story comes to (your outlet name here) through a reporting partnership with GPB News, a non-profit newsroom covering the state of Georgia.

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