Vice President Kamala Harris visited New York City Monday to promote two new environmental initiatives by the Joe Biden administration.
Harris touted the Department of Energy’s investments in private companies developing electric trucks and electric heat pumps as she spoke at JFK Airport on Nov. 1.
“Right here in New York we have seen climate change become a climate crisis, just in the last several months,” said the veep at a hangar flanked by electric heavy haulers.
President Biden visited Queens in September after remnants of Storm Ida ravaged the city, killing 13 people in the floods, and Harris said these extreme weather events made it clear that action was needed to combat climate change.
“People died in these storms, homes were destroyed in these storms, local economies were upended because of these storms,” she said. “Climate change has become a climate crisis.”
She joined Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to announce a $199 million investment to fund 25 projects aimed at putting cleaner cars and trucks on America’s roads, including long-haulers powered by batteries and fuel cells.
“We should be able to move our goods, to move commerce without harming the children of our communities and that is why an investment in large electric trucks is an investment in environmental justice,” said Harris.
Transportation makes up some 29% of emissions and Biden aims to have half of all vehicles sold in the country be zero-emission by 2030.
For the second scheme, the Energy Department will partner with six HVAC manufacturers to make their heat pumps more efficient.
“Cold climate heat pumps are a win-win for American families to comfortably heat their homes and businesses while significantly cutting down carbon pollution and lowering their energy costs,” said Granholm in a statement.
Granholm previously visited the Five Boroughs in June to boost moped-share startup Revel’s electric vehicle charging hub in Brooklyn for the company’s new all-electric for-hire-vehicle service.
