Vice President Kamala Harris had some words of advice for Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan last year after Congress passed the Biden administration’s sweeping health care, tax, and climate law.
“It is disadvantaged and low-income communities that are on the front lines of climate impacts,” Regan recounted Harris telling him in her West Wing office as he prepared to distribute billions of dollars as a part of President Joe Biden’s climate agenda.
“This is a moment in time where not only can these resources be used to stop or slow down these climate impacts, but to rebuild our communities through economic development,” Regan said Harris told him.
Though Harris’ advice was specifically talking about how to dole out money for the EPA program now known as the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund – a $20 billion clean energy loan program funded by the Inflation Reduction Act – aides say it’s that mentality that the vice president has conveyed throughout the administration in behind-the-scenes conversations, joining many other administration-wide officials who have helped how the $750 billion from the law is invested.
It’s a preview of the message Harris will take on the road as she steps up her public messaging on climate with the administration moving into hyperdrive to sell the Inflation Reduction Act to voters – especially since recent polls say voter still don’t know what’s in the sweeping legislation.
“She understands the power of the vice presidency to ensure agencies maximize coordination of resources and expertise to make sure communities that have been locked out benefit from these investments,” Dr. Ike Irby, Harris’ chief climate adviser, told CNN.
The vice president is expected to keep busy schedule of climate-related events, including talking to students and young voters on an issue…
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