Vice Presidential Pool Reports of March 8, 2023

Vice President Harris landed at 2:54 p.m. at Miami International Airport. A group of roughly 80 Miami-Dade residents, climate activists and local political figures including Miami-Dade County commission chairman Oliver Gilbert, Florida democratic party executive director Marcus Dixon and former congresswoman Debbie Mercasel-Powell cheered the vice president's arrival. Harris worked her way down a rope line chatting with the crowd for about 10 minutes, from 3:06 to 3:16 p.m.

The greeting party arrived at the Signature Flight Support terminal at 1 p.m. They came in three Miami-Dade County buses marked SPECIAL.

It's a balmy 88 degree day at MIA. For you climate hawks keeping score at home, that's 11 degrees hotter than the average high for Miami in March, according to NOAA climate data. (Note: Weather is not climate change—sometimes it's just hot outside.) A smattering of cirrus and cumulonimbus clouds offers little in the way of shade on the tarmac.

The A/C was busted at the Signature Flight Support terminal. The best seats in the house were in front of the orange industrial fans set up here and there in the hallways and waiting areas. Those unfortunate enough to be wearing jackets are feeling a little sticky. Your pooler, however, is staying cool.

Pool report #2

The motorcade left Miami International Airport at 3:18 p.m. It crossed the Julia Tuttle Causeway onto Miami Beach around 3:30 p.m.

The vice president arrived at the Mid-Beach home of Alex Heckler and Tiffany Zientz Heckler at 3:40. Alex Heckler is a lawyer—the managing partner of LSN Partners, a law firm and political consultancy—and was on the National Finance Committee for the Biden/Harris 2020 campaign. He's also the chair of the host committee of the Aspen Ideas: Climate conference where Harris will be speaking later today.

Alex Heckler introduced Harris around 4:15 p.m. Harris spoke to a couple dozen donors and supporters gathered in the Hecklers' living room. The crowd included Miami-Dade County mayor Daniella Levine-Cava. Heckler made sure to point out the waist-high compost bin from the startup Mill, to establish the fundraiser's anti-food waste and anti-climate change bona fides.

Harris thanked the group for their support. "Because of the work you did in 2020 and 2022, we have a whole lot of material to talk about," she said.

She talked up the funding the Biden administration and Congress have directed toward climate change.

"We're here to speak at Aspen to speak about the work we must do and challenges we must face to address the climate crisis," She said. "Because of your support—just look at infrastructure bill, the chips bill, the Inflation Reduction Act. We're looking at trillion dollars hitting streets of America to deal with the climate crisis. That's transformational."

"Because of this investment, we're looking at jump-starting a whole new economy, a clean energy economy."

"This investment is not only about increasing workforce, up-skilling our workforce, investing in innovation, it's also about bringing down energy cost for the word because we're increasing the supply of clean energy. What doing by investing in innovation means we're creating a surge of private investment to match what we're doing. That will get us closer to goals we have set internationally."

Harris also appeared to take an indirect swipe at Florida governor Ron Desantis and the Florida state legislature, where Republicans yesterday introduced a six-week abortion ban. "I will say, being here in Florida, I think it's really important for us as Democrats to be openly proud about the fact that we stand for American values, including the founding principles of freedom and liberty. So when we see the highest court in the land take a constitutional right that has been recognized away from the people of America and the women of America, we must stand firm as proud Americans defending foundational principles and say, 'This a violation of some of the most important values we hold dear like freedom and liberty.'"

Pool report #3

The motorcade left the fundraiser at 4:30 p.m. and arrived at 5:05 p.m. at the New World Center, which hosted tonight's plenary session at the Aspen Ideas: Climate conference.

Harris took the stage at the Michael Tilson Thomas Performance Hall at 6:12 p.m. She was joined onstage, in plush burgundy chairs, by singer-songwriter (and Miami Beach resident) Gloria Estefan. The crowd remained seated for the "Get On Your Feet" singer but rose for the vice president.

Livestream/recording link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kxONlLedBs

The vice president again touted the investments the Biden/Harris administration has made to curb climate change through the infrastructure law, Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS Act, which she said totalled $1 trillion. She projected optimism about the impact this money will have.

"The solutions are at hand, so I am therefore very optimistic and frankly a bit psyched about where we are right now," she said, later adding: "We have to make up for time time lost, no doubt, but this is going to have not an incremental but an exponential impact on where we need to go."

Harris acknowledged the role the US has played in pumping CO2 into the atmosphere and the impact that has had on its neighbors in the Caribbean.

"I'll be very candid: We have to admit there are certain nations that are the biggest emitters and there are certain nations that are paying the biggest price," she said. She said many are island nations in the Caribbean dealing with sea level rise and extreme weather, which can impact tourism and harm a key economic engine. "The reality is that we have to understand the impact of what we have done and what we continue to do and have a conversation about what is our role as the United States in addressing it in a way that can be helpful, because it is our neighborhood."

Harris also talked about the national security implications of climate change. "Basic fact: Humans need to eat food. If you cannot grow food where you live you will move somewhere else and invariably it is very possible that communities of people will move to places that speak a different language and pray to different gods, which will result in conflict."

On Background from a White House Official:

Today, Wednesday, March 8th, 2023, the Vice President will travel to Miami Beach, Florida. There, the Vice President will deliver remarks at a political fundraiser and will join the AspenInstitute's Aspen Ideas: Climate for a moderated conversation on the Biden-Harris Administration's investments and actions to combat the climate crisis and ongoing efforts to build a new clean energy economy that works for all. The moderated conversation will begin at6:05 PM ET and will be livestreamed on Whitehouse.gov/live

Within the first 3 months of 2023, the Vice President has participated in moderated conversations on climate in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Arvada, Colorado, and Atlanta, Georgia. The Vice President traveled to Tonopah, AZ to deliver remarks at a groundbreaking for the Ten West Link transmission line, which will help deliver clean power from wind and solar farms to customers, visited a drought resilience facility in California as the West deals with climate change-fueled drought and deluge, and visited a final assembly plant for electric buses in St. Cloud, MN. Additionally, the Vice President convened climate leaders from local, state, and national level organizations to discuss the Administration's climate investments, and hosted the Accelerating Lead Pipe Replacement Summit at the White House.

Biden-Harris Administration legislative accomplishments to combat the climate crisis include:

• Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) providing $370B in climate investments.

• Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) advancing climate resilience and environmental justice.

• CHIPS and Science Act boosting clean energy innovation.

• Florida is on the frontlines of the climate crisis with extreme heat, intensifying hurricanes, and accelerating sea level rise. The Biden-Harris Administration has taken historic action to drive solutions to this crisis. In August 2022, the Vice President traveled to Miami to announce over $1 billion for 53 states, territories, and D.C., to improve their infrastructure and make communities more resilient, with an emphasis on increasing resilience to the impacts of climate change and extreme weather.

The Vice President's past work on climate action includes:

• As San Francisco District Attorney, the Vice President established one of the first environmental justice units in the country.

• As California's Attorney General, the Vice President took action to hold polluters accountable and protect communities and the environment, including after the 2015 Santa Barbara oil spill.

• As a U.S. Senator from California, the Vice President led comprehensive legislation centered on climate and environmental justice, including the Climate Equity Act, the Water Justice Act, and the Environmental Justice for All Act. The Vice President also authored multiple bills that informed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, including the Clean School Bus Act, the Wildfire Defense Act, and the Water for Tomorrow Act.