Vice President Kamala Harris and Miami musical legend Gloria Estefan sat down for a conversation about climate change on Wednesday night as part of the Aspen Ideas: Climate conference in Miami Beach.
The pair took the stage at the New World Center to a packed house and discussed potential climate solutions and what it will take for a clean energy economy to emerge from the Biden-Harris administration’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Estefan kicked things off by reminding the audience that the Biden-Harris administration signed into law the largest investment in history to tackle the climate issues.
“‘I’m a grandmother of a 10-year-old grandson, and I’m particularly worried,” said Estefan. “I feel we absolutely need to do something to stem the tide — pun intended — here in Florida.”
“We have to be solutions-driven,” responded Harris. “The solutions are at hand. I’m therefore optimistic.”
Harris went on to say that by her rough math, when combining 2021’s Infrastructure Law, 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS Act, which aims to drive investments in domestic semiconductor manufacturing, “$1 trillion will hit the streets of America on the issue of climate.”
The money, Harris said she hopes, will spur a new economy based on U.S. manufacturing of products needed for a clean energy economy, both domestically and globally.
On a global scale, the administration’s vision is that U.S. investment in technology and innovation will be modeled by other nations, and U.S. innovation will be adopted and utilized, speeding global carbon emission reduction.
Carbon emission exacerbates climate change, which in turn causes sea levels to rise and weather partners to sometimes intensify violently.
Estefan’s love of the sea
Estefan, who was born in Cuba and came to Miami when she was 18 months old, said her grandfather used to take her to the beach every day. “After living in Miami Beach for 38 years, we see the changes,” said Estefan. “Our bays and corals are dying, we have major fish kills. Being on the water I have seen the water rising to an alarming degree. Saving our oceans is a big deal to me,” she said.
“It’s a responsibility of coastal areas to take action,” Estefan said. “You can tell I’m passionate about water. I’m a captain. I have three courses in navigation!”
On water policy, Harris pivoted away from ecosystem issues to infrastructure, saying that the U.S. tends to clean up floods but not prevent them. “How are we going to have smart policies around building, that adapt to the realities of these issues?”
A passion point for Harris was safe drinking water. “Access to clean drinking water should be a right, not a privilege of those who can afford it!” she said, and talked about the administration’s work on lead pipes. Childhood exposure to lead can diminish cognitive skills.
She said that in the next 9 years the Biden administration will get rid of all lead service lines in the country. She said communities have been talking about for years, while wealthier areas could afford to address the problem, but rental communities have often not been able to.
Everglades restoration
Estefan touched on Everglades restoration, and though Harris avoided delving into any nuts-and-bolts information on restoration projects, she did fret about saltwater intrusion into South Florida’s drinking water supplies.
The Biden-Harris plans will devote $1.1 billion to restore South Florida’s famous wilderness, the largest single investment in the Everglades in U.S. history.
The Everglades watershed, which once flowed south through the sawgrass spine of the lower half of Florida, has been drained, diverted and sectioned off for nearly 80 years. The lack of freshwater flow damages wildlife, leaves Everglades National Park parched, leads to destructively high salinity levels in Florida Bay and allows saltwater intrusion into the water supply of some 8 million people in South Florida, including all of Broward County and parts of Palm Beach County.
Harris also noted that lots of folks say they want to go green, but it takes money. That’s the motive behind the administration’s electronic vehicle rebate plan, which offers $7,000 for those buying new EVs and $4,000 for those buying used EVs.
Toward the end of the conversation, Estefan asked Harris what motivates her on climate.
Harris talked about being motivated by national security and global migration. “Humans need to eat food. If you can’t grow food where you live, you move … which will result in conflict,” she said.
She also turned to the audience, where a group of young climate leaders were seated. The teens cheered and Harris waved. “They’re brilliant, they’re excited,” she said, and told a story about how they are concerned about “climate mental health” — the considerations they are making about having children, and how to make a living as the climate changes.
Harris looked to the teens again and said, “You make me excited, because you’re going to leapfrog over all of this.”
You can watch the daily plenary sessions, including the Wednesday night event with the vice president, here, and view some of the event’s daily panel discussions here.
