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Economic Development, Economic Policies, Economy, Election 2024, News & Photo Features

VP Harris in Major Speech Detailing Plans for ‘Opportunity Economy’: ‘We Need to Grow Our Middle Class,’ ‘Invest in Innovation’

Vice President Kamala Harris stands with hospitality union workers in New York City. In a speech in Pittsburgh speech, she detailed her “Opportunity Opportunity” agenda, designed to grow the middle class, invest in innovation and small business, and create sustainable economic growth that helps families not just get by but thrive © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

It infuriates me when people say “what has Kamala Harris done as Vice President? What is her plan for the economy? ” when in fact, they typically are willfully ignorant.

In a major address in Pittsburgh laying out her vision for the economy and her economic philosophy, Vice President Kamala Harris vowed to “grow America’s middle class” and build an “opportunity economy” focused on lowering costs, investing in innovation, and winning the industries and creating the manufacturing jobs of the future.

She contrasted her optimistic vision to build the middle class, which she grew up in, with Donald Trump’s plan to look out only for himself and billionaires like him. Trump “has no intention of growing our middle class. He’s only interested in making life better for himself,” she said. “For Donald Trump, our economy works best if it works for those who own the big skyscrapers. Not those who build them. Not those who wire them. Not those who mop the floors.

“I have a different vision for our economy,” she declared. “I believe we need to grow our middle class.”

Here is an edited and highlighted transcript of Harris’ remarks and a fact sheet provided by the Harris-Walz campaign:– Karen Rubin, [email protected]

We gather at a moment of great consequence.

In this election, we have an extraordinary opportunity.

To make our middle class the engine of America’s prosperity.

To build a stronger economy where everyone has a chance to chase their dreams and aspirations.

And to ensure that the United States of America continues to out-innovate and out-compete the world.

Over the past three and a half years, we have taken major steps forward to recover from the public health and economic crisis we inherited.

Inflation has dropped faster here than the rest of the developed world.

Unemployment is near record lows.

We have created almost 740 thousand manufacturing jobs—including 650 at the battery manufacturing plant over in Turtle Creek.

And we have supported another 15 thousand jobs at Montgomery Locks.

Last week, for the first time in four and a half years, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates, which will make it a little easier for families to buy a home. Or a car. Or pay down their credit card bill.

But let’s be clear: for all these positive steps, the cost of living in America is still too high.

You know it, and I know it.

And that was true long before the pandemic hit.

Many Americans who aspire to own a home are unable to save enough for a down payment on a house. And starting to think that maybe home ownership isn’t within their reach.

Folks who live in factory towns and rural communities who have lost jobs, are wondering if those jobs will ever come back.

Many Americans are worried about how they’ll afford the prescription drugs they depend on.

And all of this is happening at a time when many of the biggest corporations continue to make record profits while wages haven’t kept pace.

I understand the pressures of making ends meet.

I grew up in a middle class family…

Every day, millions of Americans are sitting around their own kitchen tables. And facing their own financial pressures.

Because over the past several decades, our economy has grown better and better for those at the very top. And increasingly difficult for those trying to attain, build and hold on to a middle-class life.

In many ways, that is what this election is about.

The American people face a choice between two fundamentally different paths for our economy.  

I want to chart a New Way Forward. And grow America’s middle class.  

Donald Trump intends to take America backward. To the failed policies of the past.

He has no intention of growing our middle class.

He’s only interested in making life better for himself.

And people like himself. The wealthiest of Americans.  

You can see it spelled out in his economic agenda.

An agenda that gives trillions of dollars in tax cuts to billionaires and big corporations. While raising taxes on the middle class by almost $4,000 a year. Slashing overtime pay. Throwing tens of millions of Americans off health care. And cutting Social Security and Medicare.

In sum, his agenda would weaken the economy and hurt working- and middle-class people.

For Donald Trump, our economy works best if it works for those who own the big skyscrapers.

Not those who build them. Not those who wire them. Not those who mop the floors.

Well, I have a different vision for our economy.

I believe we need to grow our middle class and make sure our economy works for everyone.

For people like those in the neighborhood where I grew up. And the hardworking Americans I meet across our nation.

I call my vision, the Opportunity Economy.

And it’s about making sure everyone can find a job and more.

I want working Americans and families to be able to not just get by. But be able to get ahead. To thrive.

I don’t want you to have to worry about making your monthly rent if your car breaks down.

I want you to be able to save up for your child’s education.

Take a vacation once in a while.

And buy Christmas presents for your loved ones without feeling anxious looking at your bank account. I want you to be able to build up some wealth.

Not just for yourself. But for your children and grandchildren. And here’s the thing.

We know how to build an economy like that.

We know how to unlock strong, shared economic growth for the American people.

History has shown it. Time and again.

When we invest in those things that strengthen the middle class—manufacturing, housing, health care, education, small businesses, and our communities—we grow our economy and catalyze the entire country to succeed.

I have pledged that building a strong middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency.

And the reason is not about politics or ideology. It’s just common sense. It’s what works.

When the middle class is strong, America is strong.

And we can build a stronger middle class.

The American economy is the most powerful force for innovation and wealth creation in human history. We just need to move beyond the failed policies of the past.

And, like generations before us, be inspired by what’s possible.

As President, I’ll be grounded in my fundamental values of fairness. Dignity. And opportunity.

And pragmatic in my approach.

I’ll engage in what Franklin Roosevelt called “bold, persistent experimentation.”

I believe we shouldn’t be constrained by ideology.

We should seek practical solutions to problems. Realistic assessments of what’s working and what’s not.

And stay focused. Not only on the crises at hand. But on our big goals.

On what’s best for America over the long term.

And part of being pragmatic means taking good ideas from wherever they come.

I am a devout public servant. And I also know the limitations of government.

I’ve always been and always will be a strong supporter of workers and unions.

I also believe we need to engage those who create most of the jobs in America.

Look, I am a capitalist. I believe in free and fair markets.

And consistent and transparent rules of the road to create a stable business environment.

And I know the power of American innovation.

I’ve been working with entrepreneurs and business owners my whole career.

And. I believe companies need to play by the rules. Respect the rights of workers and unions. And abide by fair competition.

If they don’t, I will hold them accountable.

And if anyone has any doubt about that, just look at my record as Attorney General in California.

Taking on: Big banks for predatory lending. Big health care companies for conspiring to jack up prices. And big, for-profit colleges for scamming veterans and students.

At the same time, I believe that most companies are working hard to do right by their customers and the employees who depend on them.

And we must work with them to grow our economy.

I believe an active partnership between government and the private sector is one of the most effective ways to fully unlock economic opportunity.

And that’s what we will do when I am President.

We will target the major barriers to opportunity.

And remove them.

We will identify common sense solutions to help Americans buy a home.

Start a business. And build wealth.

And we will adopt them.

Let’s start with the first pillar of the Opportunity Economy.

Lowering costs.

I made that our top priority because if we want the middle class to be the growth engine of our economy, we need to restore basic economic security for middle class families.

To that end, the most practical thing we can do right now is to cut taxes for the middle class.

So that’s what we will do.

Under my plan, more than 100 million Americans will get a middle class tax break.

That includes $6,000 for new parents during the first year of a child’s life. To help families cover everything from car seats to cribs.

And we’ll also cut the cost of childcare and elder care.

And finally give all working people access to paid leave.

Which will help everyone caring for children, caring for aging parents, and the sandwich generation caring for both.

I have personal experience with caregiving. I remember being there for my mother when she was diagnosed with cancer. Cooking meals for her. Taking her to her appointments. Trying to make her comfortable. And telling her stories.

I know caregiving is about dignity.

And when we lower the costs, and ease the burdens people face. We not only make it easier for them to meet their obligations as caregivers. We also make it more possible for them to go to work, and pursue their economic aspirations.

And when that happens, our economy as a whole grows stronger.

Now, middle class tax cuts are just the start of my plan.

We will also go after the biggest drivers of costs for the middle class. And work to bring them down.

One of those big costs is housing.

So here is what we will do.

We will cut the red tape that stops homes from being built.

Take on corporate landlords who are hiking rental prices.

And work with builders and developers to construct 3 million new homes and rentals for the middle class.

Because increasing the housing supply will help drive down the cost of housing.

We will also help first-time homebuyers get their foot in the door with a $25,000 down payment assistance.

So more Americans can afford to buy a home. A critical step in building wealth.

And we will work to reduce other big costs for middle class families.

We will take on bad actors who exploit emergencies to drive up grocery prices. By enacting the first-ever federal ban on corporate price gouging.

And take on Big Pharma to cap the cost of prescription drugs for all Americans.

Just like we did for seniors.

By contrast, Donald Trump has no intention of lowering costs for the middle class.

In fact, his economic agenda would actually raise prices.

And that’s not just my opinion.

A survey of top economists by the Financial Times and University of Chicago found that by an overwhelming 70 to 3 percent margin, my plan would be better for keeping inflation low.

The second pillar of the Opportunity Economy is investing in American innovation and entrepreneurship.

For the last century, the United States of America has been a beacon around the world.

Not only for our ability to come up with some of the most breakthrough ideas.

But our ability to turn those ideas into some of the most consequential innovations the world has ever known.

I believe the source of our success is the ingenuity, dynamism, and enter-prising spirit of the American people.

To paraphrase Warren Buffett: Since our founding as a nation, “there has been no incubator for unleashing human potential like America.”

And we need to guard that spirit.

Including by solving the problems that small business owners face.

As I travel the country, what I hear time and again from those who own small businesses, and those who aspire to start them, is that too often, an entrepreneur has a great idea.

And the willingness to take the risk.

But they don’t have access to the capital to make it real.

Well, we can make it easier for them to access capital.

On average, it costs about $40,000 to start a new business. But currently, the tax deduction for startup costs is only $5,000.

In 2024, it’s almost impossible to start a business on $5,000.

That’s why, as President, I will make the startup deduction ten times richer.

We will raise it from $5,000 to $50,000.

And provide low- and no-interest loans to small businesses that want to expand.

All of which will help achieve our ambitious goal of 25 million new small business applications by the end of my first term.

Small businesses help drive our economy.

They create nearly 50 percent of private sector jobs. And they strengthen our middle class.

And if we can harness the entrepreneurialism of the American people, and unlock the full potential of aspiring founders, and small business owners, I am optimistic no one will ever outpace us.

By contrast, when Donald Trump was President, one of the nation’s leading experts on small businesses published a piece in a major paper. The title, “Does Donald Trump hate small businesses?” Their answer was yes.

Because at the same time Donald Trump was giving a tax cut to big corporations and billionaires, he tried to slash programs for small businesses.

And raise borrowing costs for them.

Instead of making it easier, he actually made it more difficult for them to access capital.

And that’s not surprising.

Because Donald Trump does not prioritize small businesses. He does not seem to value the essential role they play.  

Well, when I look at small business owners, I see some of the heroes of our economy.

Not only entrepreneurs.

But civic leaders.

I see the glue that holds our communities together.

The third pillar of the Opportunity Economy is leading the world in the industries of the future.

And making sure America—not China—wins the competition for the 21st Century.

One of the recurring themes of American history is that when we make an intentional effort to invest in our industrial strength, it leads to extraordinary prosperity and security.

Not only for years. But for generations.

Think of Alexander Hamilton having the foresight to build the manufacturing capabilities of our new nation.

Lincoln and the transcontinental railroad.

Eisenhower and the interstate highway system.

Kennedy, committing America to win the space race and spurring innovation across our society.

From our earliest days, America’s economic strength has been tied to our industrial strength.

The same is true today.

So, I will recommit the nation. To global leadership in the sectors that will define the next century.

We will invest in biomanufacturing and aerospace.

Remain dominant in AI, quantum computing, blockchain, and other emerging technologies.

Expand our lead in clean energy innovation and manufacturing.

So the next generation of breakthroughs—from advanced batteries to geothermal to advanced nuclear—are not just invented, but built here in America by American workers.

And we will invest in the industries that made Pittsburgh the Steel City, by offering tax credits for expanding good union jobs, in steel, iron, and manufacturing communities like here in Mon Valley.

And across all these industries of the future, we will prioritize investments for:

Strengthening factory towns. Retooling existing factories. Hiring locally. And working with unions.

Because no one who grows up in America’s greatest industrial or agricultural centers should be abandoned.

And here is what else we will do when I am President.

We will double the number of registered apprenticeships by the end of my first term.

Eliminate degree requirements while increasing skills development for half a million federal jobs.

And challenge our private sector to make a similar commitment to emphasizing skills, not just degrees.

We will reform our tax laws to make it easier for businesses to let workers share in their company’s success.

And I will challenge the private sector to do more to lift up workers through equity, profits, and benefits. So more people can share in America’s success.

Not only must we build the industries of the future in America.

We must build them faster.

The simple truth is, in America, it takes too long and costs too much to build.

Whether it’s a new housing development, a new factory, or a new bridge, projects take too long to go from concept to reality.  

It happens in blue states and red states. And it’s a national problem.

I will tell you this. China is not moving slowly. And we can’t afford to, either.

As President, if things are not moving quickly, I will demand to know why.

And I will act. I will work with Congress, workers and businesses, cities and states, community groups and local leaders, to reform permitting.

Cut red tape. And get things moving faster.

Patience may be a virtue. But not when it comes to job creation. Or America’s competitiveness.

The Empire State Building was built in a year.

The Pentagon, 16 months.

No one can tell me we can’t build quickly in our country.

Now, Donald Trump makes big promises on manufacturing.

Just yesterday, he went out and promised to bring back manufacturing jobs.

If that sounds familiar, it should. In 2016, he went out and made that very same promise about the Carrier plant in Indianapolis. You’ll remember, Carrier then offshored hundreds of jobs to Mexico under his watch.

And it wasn’t just there. On Trump’s watch, offshoring went up, and manufacturing jobs went down across our economy.

All told, almost 200,000 manufacturing jobs were lost during his presidency, starting before the pandemic hit.

Making Trump one of the biggest losers ever on manufacturing.

Donald Trump also talked a big game on our trade deficit with China. But it is far lower under our watch, than any year of his Administration.

While he constantly got played by China, I will never hesitate to take swift and strong measures when China undermines the rules of the road at the expense of our workers, our communities, and our companies—whether it’s flooding the market with steel.

Unfairly subsidizing ship-building. Or hurting our small businesses with counterfeits.

Recall Donald Trump actually shipped advanced semiconductor chips to China to upgrade their military.

I will never sell out America to our competitors or adversaries.

I will always make sure we have the strongest economy and most lethal fighting force of any nation in the world.

At this pivotal moment, we have an extraordinary opportunity. To chart a New Way Forward. One that positions the United States of America—and all of us blessed to call this home—for success and prosperity in the 21st Century.

There is an old saying, that “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”

Well, that is the story of the Steel City.

The city that helped: Build the middle class. Birth America’s labor movement. And power the rise of American manufacturing.

And the city where Allen Newell and Herbert Simon launched the first AI research hub at Carnegie Mellon.

And created entirely new fields. Like machine learning. And Carnegie Mellon is now home to the largest university robotics center in America.

The proud heritage of Pittsburgh reveals the character of our nation.

A nation that harnesses the ambitions, dreams, and aspirations of our people.

Seizes the opportunities before us. And invents the future.

That is what we have always done. And that is what we must do now.

New Independent Economic Analysis Finds Trump Plan Will Lead to ‘Permanently Higher Inflation’

The Peterson Institute for International Economics: “Manufacturing taking the biggest hits—the opposite of Trump’s stated goals”

“Does more damage to the US economy than to any other in the world”

In contrast to Harris’ defined plan for sustainable economic growth, yet another independent economic analysis concludes that Donald Trump’s second term agenda would send inflation skyrocketing, crush growth, and eliminate American jobs.

Key findings:

  • “Scenarios combining individual policies show that the changes cause a large inflationary impulse and a significant loss of employment (particularly in manufacturing and agriculture) in the US economy.”
  • “We find that ironically, despite his ‘make the foreigners pay’ rhetoric, this package of policies does more damage to the US economy than to any other in the world. They result in lower US national income, lower employment, and higher inflation than otherwise. In some cases, foreign countries benefit from the inflow of capital leaving the United States.”
  • “Both of Trump’s tariff plans—imposing 10 percentage point additional tariffs on US imports from all sources and 60 percentage point tariffs on imports from China—hurt US GDP and employment by 2028, with or without retaliation by trading partners. But the effects vary by sector, with durable manufacturing taking the biggest hits—the opposite of Trump’s stated goals.”
  • “Figure 41 shows that the permanently higher inflation leads to ever-increasing prices across the US economy with some relative price shifts, particularly for the energy and mining sectors relative to services in the early period of adjustments. By 2040, prices across the economy are roughly 41 percent higher than the baseline.”
  • “Figure 44 shows that inflation peaks between 4.1 and 7.4 percentage points above baseline by 2026. If baseline inflation is 1.9 percent, the peak will be between 6 and 9.3 percent. Inflation stays permanently above baseline by 2 percentage points because the Fed’s loss of independence does not boost the economy’s supply side.”

This new study from the Peterson Institute for International Economics adds to a clear consensus among economists – many conservative-leaning – that Donald Trump’s plans would devastate the American economy and the middle class.

“Donald Trump will not just impose a $4,000 a year middle class tax hike – his plan will permanently jack up inflation, crush American manufacturing jobs, and hurt manufacturing workers more than any other sector,” stated Harris-Walz 2024 Spokesperson Joseph Costello. “Over and over, independent economists are warning of the economic dangers of Trump’s plan, and Americans should take note. This is a fundamental contrast with Vice President Harris, who has a plan to lower costs and create economic opportunity for the middle class, including major investments in creating the manufacturing jobs of the future.”

The campaign provided more from CNN’s breakdown of the study:

  • The Trump agenda would cause weaker economic growth, higher inflation and lower employment, according to a working paper released Thursday by the Peterson Institute for International Economics. In some cases, the damage could continue through 2040.
  • The paper represents the most comprehensive analysis to date on the combined impact of Trump’s trade, immigration and Fed proposals.
  • In that scenario, employment would be 9% lower than baseline by 2028 and inflation would surge to 9.3% by 2026. GDP would be 9.7% lower than otherwise.
  • The Peterson Institute research finds that Trump’s tariff and other plans would backfire – hurting manufacturing more than any sector. That means the same factory workers Trump says he is trying to help would be hurt the most.
  • “If other countries retaliate, as many likely would, a recession in the year after the increase in tariffs would be a serious threat,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, told CNN in an email.
  • The paper found that erosion of Fed independence would cause higher inflation, capital outflows, a significant loss of value for the US dollar and higher unemployment – all of which would “worsen American living standards.”

Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who was nominated by Trump in 2017, cautioned against any effort to interfere with Fed independence.

Biden Administration, Gender Equity, Health Care, News & Photo Features, Womens Issues, Women's Rights, Womens Issues, Womens Rights

At Clinton Global Initiative, First Lady Announces $500 Million More Funding for Women’s Health Research; President Biden Receives Global Citizen Award

President Biden accepts the 2024 Clinton Global Citizen Award at the Clinton Global Initiative, with Dr.Chelsea Clinton, President Bill Clinton, First Lady Jill Biden, and Secretary Hillary Clinton © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

By Karen Rubin, News-Photos-Features.com, [email protected]

First Lady Jill Biden at the 2024 Clinton Global Initiative announced the Department of Defense’s new commitment to spend $500 million on vital women’s health research. With this new investment, the Department will fund research on conditions that affect women uniquely, disproportionately, or differently—such as ovarian cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and musculoskeletal injuries. This commitment is consistent with President Biden’s Executive Order on Advancing Women’s Health Research and Innovation as well as the Department of Defense’s broader efforts to support the health of the women it serves and the medical readiness of the force.
 
The First Lady, joined by Chelsea Clinton, vice chair of the Clinton Foundation, and Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, president of Morehouse Medical School and an infertility specialist and researcher, also discussed the rapid progress being made by the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research, which was launched less than a year ago with the goal of fundamentally changing how we fund and approach women’s health research, that included $100 million for transformative research and development in women’s health.

First Lady Jill Biden at the 2024 Clinton Global Initiative announced the Department of Defense’s new commitment to spend $500 million on vital women’s health research. With this new investment, the Department will fund research on conditions that affect women uniquely, disproportionately, or differently—such as ovarian cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and musculoskeletal injuries © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

“Women are living longer, which means they are living longer with chronic pain,” Dr. Biden said to emphasize the need to determine why women are more likely to become afflicted by Alzheimer’s, MS, and auto immune diseases and no one knows why. Up until now, research on medications, therapies and treatments have only been developed with men as subjects. There has been virtually no study of ovarian health – arthritis, migraines – and why women getting these conditions.

President Biden was determined to do something about it, so allocated $100 million to ARPA-H – the mega-research agency of the government which Biden created to do health research in the same way ARPA researches and develops technology; then the National Institutes of Health allocated $200 million to study how menopause affects the brain, heart, and bone health. Now, the Department of Defense has allocated $500 million to study military women’s health, which will yield insights for all women.

Dr. Rice, a ground-breaking OB/GYN, said more study has to be done on how nutritional balance influences the cycle, how estrogen levels fluctuate throughout the cycle, and about lifestyle changes. “The only way we can understand how to introduce interventions is to include women in the studies early.” She added that social determinants must be considered in order to engender trust so women will volunteer to participate in clinical trials. “It starts with trial design.”

Dr. Chelsea Clinton, Vice Chair of the Clinton Foundation, First Lady Jill Biden and Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, president of Morehouse School of Medicine discuss women’s health research as part of the mainstage session, titled “Look Around,” where leaders from across the social impact spectrum highlighted the ways in which they break down barriers between peer institutions, cultivate partnerships and community, and align values and programs to create new, specific, and measurable ways to support one another © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Monday’s CGI event followed the First Lady joining the top of the President’s Cabinet meeting last week, where she expressed gratitude to the agencies for their continued progress and momentum towards that goal. This was the first time the First Lady joined a Cabinet meeting and is a testament to how personally important this effort to advance women’s health research is for both the President and the First Lady.
 
Since launching the initiative last November, the First Lady has visited research centers and universities, and spoken with doctors and scientists across the country to understand the research questions we need to ask – and the answers they could find if we invest in women’s health.
 
“Since launching the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research last November, the First Lady has put the spotlight on the urgent need to close the gap in how we fund and approach women’s health research,” FLOTUS Press Secretary Vanessa Valdivi stated.”The Biden-Harris Administration has quickly mobilized to make progress in less than year, and in the months ahead the First Lady will continue to push the work of this initiative forward, and build on the incredible momentum and enthusiasm we’ve seen across the public and private sectors.”
   
The White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research
 
The White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research is ensuring that research on women’s health is a priority and galvanizing new research on a wide range of topics. In his State of the Union address, President Biden called on Congress to make a bold, transformative investment of $12 billion in new funding for women’s health research. The President also signed an Executive Order on Advancing Women’s Health Research and Innovation that directed the most comprehensive set of executive actions ever taken to expand and improve research on women’s health.
 
The Initiative—led by the Office of the First Lady and the White House Gender Policy Council and Chaired by Dr. Carolyn M. Mazure —consists of executive departments and agencies across the federal government, such as the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Defense, and Veterans Affairs, and White House offices, such as the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Members of the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research have already taken action to advance women’s health research, including:
 

  • The President’s Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) committed $100 million for transformative research and development in women’s health for its first-ever Sprint for Women’s Health. ARPA-H received an unprecedented response to its call for proposals, receiving submissions from a mix of scientific visionaries from across the globe and sectors.
    • The National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched a new agency-wide effort to invest $200 million for new, interdisciplinary women’s health research—a first step towards the transformative central Fund on Women’s Health that the President called on Congress to invest in. This cross-cutting effort will allow NIH to fund ambitious, multi-faceted research projects such as research on the impact of perimenopause and menopause on heart health, brain health and bone health.
    • The Department of Health and Human Services announced $12.5 million in new funding to address the unique mental health and substance use treatment needs of women. The new Women’s Behavioral Health Technical Assistance Center will help fill vital gaps in health care providers’ knowledge and ability to treat the mental health and substance use conditions of women across the nation.
    • The NIH launched a new challenge to accelerate the development of innovative technologies for the diagnosis of endometriosis, a debilitating condition that affects about 1 in 10 women and often takes years to be diagnosed. NIH will award $3 million in prizes to innovators who develop new technologies that make it easier and quicker to diagnose endometriosis.
    • The National Science Foundation (NSF) issued its first-ever call for novel and transformative science and engineering research focused entirely on women’s health. NSF has also convened experts in the fields of engineering, biomedical research, and advanced computing to identify ways to improve women’s health research—including how artificial intelligence and machine learning can revolutionize our understanding of menopause.
    • DoD and the Department of Veterans Affairs launched a new Joint Collaborative to Improve Women’s Health Research for Servicemembers and Veterans to further promote joint efforts to advance women’s health research and improve evidence-based care for women Servicemembers and veterans.

The First Lady joined Chelsea Clinton and Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice at the Clinton Global Initiative to discuss women’s health research as part of the mainstage session, titled “Look Around,” where leaders from across the social impact spectrum highlighted the ways in which they break down barriers between peer institutions, cultivate partnerships and community, and align values and programs to create new, specific, and measurable ways to support one another.
 
As vice chair of the Clinton Foundation, Chelsea Clinton works alongside the Foundation’s leadership and partners to improve lives and inspire emerging leaders across the United States and around the world. This includes the Foundation’s early child initiative Too Small to Fail, which supports families with the resources they need to promote early brain and language development; and the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U), a global program that empowers student leaders to turn their ideas into action. A longtime public health advocate, Chelsea also serves as vice chair of the Clinton Health Access Initiative and uses her platform to increase awareness around issues such as vaccine hesitancy, childhood obesity, and health equity.
 
Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, president of Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) and the first woman to lead the freestanding medical institution, is a renowned infertility specialist and researcher. She most recently served as dean and executive vice president of MSM, where she has served since 2011. Prior to joining MSM, Dr. Montgomery Rice held faculty positions and leadership roles at various health centers, including academic health centers. Most notably, she was the founding director of the Center for Women’s Health Research at Meharry Medical College—an HBCU in Nashville, Tennessee—one of the nation’s first research centers devoted to studying diseases that disproportionately impact women of color.
 
Dr. Montgomery Rice joined the President and First Lady for the Women’s Health Research Executive Order signing at the White House in March and participated in two White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research events with Dr. Biden in Atlanta, GA in February.

President Joe Biden Receives 2024 Clinton Global Citizen Award

President Biden addresses the Clinton Global Initiative in accepting the 2024 Clinton Global Citizen Award, with President Bill Clinton, Secretary Hillary Clinton, First Lady Jill Biden, and Dr. Chelsea Clinton © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Immediately after the panel discussion, president Joe Biden came onto the stage to surprise the CGI attendees, and perhaps be surprised himself by being awarded 2024 Clinton Global Citizen Award.

The award acknowledged Biden’s transformational presidency in taking the United States out of deadly COVID pandemic and double-digit unemployment, to the strongest recovery, the strongest economy, while transitioning the economy and society for economic, climate and civil justice, reestablishing the United States’ global leadership and standing up for democracy, peace and prosperity around the world, and standing up for country over personal interest.

As President Biden told the United Nations General Assembly just hours before, “I’ve made the preservation of democracy the central cause of my presidency. This summer, I faced a decision whether to seek a second term as president.  It was a difficult decision.  Being president has been the honor of my life.  There is so much more I want to get done.  But as much as I love the job, I love my country more.  I decided, after 50 years of public service, it’s time for a new generation of leadership to take my nation forward.”

To the Clinton Global Initiative he said, “I am congenitally optimistic about this country.  I really am… We’re good people.  We really are.  We just have to live up to what we expect of others,” in humbly accepting the award.

Previous Clinton Global Citizen Award winners have included First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska (2023); Dolores Huerta (2022) for her advocacy of human rights of women, children and working class people worldwide; Nadia Mura (2016), a Yazidi woman who survived her capture and enslavement by ISIS and has become a voice for women and children trafficked in conflict; and Malala Yousafzai (2014) who survived an attack by the Taliban, targeted for going to school, and has gone on to be a strong advocate for girls’ education.

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© 2024 News & Photo Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. For editorial feature and photo information, go to www.news-photos-features.com, email [email protected]. Blogging at www.dailykos.com/blogs/NewsPhotosFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures, Tweet @KarenBRubin Threads: @news_and_photo_features

Biden Administration, Climate Action, Climate Change, News & Photo Features

FACT SHEET: President Biden Commemorates Historic Climate Legacy during Climate Week NYC

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson addresses the 2024 Clinton Global Initiative, which prioritizes climate action, environmental protection and climate justice, about the crucial role that NASA plays in assessing climate change. The Biden-Harris Administration has made a whole-of-government commitment to addressing climate change and environmental justice. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

During Climate Week, President Biden delivered remarks highlighting his climate, conservation, clean energy, and environmental justice agenda, which is lowering costs, creating good-paying and union jobs, and reducing harmful emissions.
 
As the latest historic hurricane event pummels the Southeast, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who routinely calls Climate Change a hoax, promises to “drill baby drill” and pulled the US out of the Paris Climate Agreement, and Republican governors in Florida, Texas, South Carolina deal with climate change by outlawing the term,  House Republicans continue reckless attempts to roll back climate, conservation, and clean energy investments – even proposing to shut down NOAA, which gives warnings of weather events.

This fact sheet reviewing President Biden’s historic climate legacy was provided by the White House:

When President Biden took office, he pledged to restore America’s climate leadership at home and abroad. Every day since, the Biden-Harris Administration has led and delivered on the most ambitious climate, conservation, clean energy, and environmental justice agenda in history, including securing the largest ever climate investment and unleashing a clean energy manufacturing boom that has attracted hundreds of billions of dollars in private sector investment; created hundreds of thousands of new clean energy jobs; and lowered energy costs for families while delivering cleaner air and water for communities across the country.
 
As business leaders, government officials, young people, and other advocates from around the world gather in New York City to participate in Climate Week, tomorrow President Biden delivered remarks in New York City highlighting his Administration’s unprecedented progress in tackling the climate crisis, cutting energy costs for everyday Americans, and creating good-paying union jobs.
 
Meanwhile, as President Biden and Vice President Harris continue to implement their Investing in America agenda, many Congressional Republicans continue to deny the impacts of climate change and are actively working to roll back this Administration’s historic and urgent climate investments – in fact, House Republicans have voted more than 50 times to repeal parts of President Biden’s climate investments. The contrast couldn’t be clearer.
 
From replacing toxic lead pipes and modernizing our electric grid to reducing air pollution and conserving our nation’s lands and waters, President Biden and Vice President Harris have positioned America to lead the global effort against climate change and protect the health, safety, and economic vitality of our communities and our environment for generations to come. 
 
Biden-Harris Administration’s Top Climate Accomplishments
 
Deploying Clean, Affordable Electricity and Strengthening America’s Power Grid
Through the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, President Biden has secured unprecedented investments in a clean power sector, unleashing a boom in American solar, wind, battery storage, nuclear, and other clean energy technologies that are creating good-paying jobs and saving families money on utility bills. President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is supporting the U.S. offshore wind industry, transmission buildout and other power grid upgrades, residential solar for low-income households, investments in clean electricity across rural America, efficient permitting to get new projects built, and American manufacturing of clean energy technologies. Since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, the US has added more than 100 gigawatts of new clean energy – enough to power more than 25 million homes. Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, clean energy project developers get access to expanded tax incentives if they pay workers prevailing wages and employ registered apprentices,  build their projects with domestic content, or locate projects in historic energy communities—provisions that are helping make more clean energy jobs good-paying and union jobs, supporting American manufacturing, and driving clean energy investment to the places that can benefit the most.
 
Bolstering Climate Resilience and Adaptation
The Biden-Harris Administration is taking a whole-of-government approach to addressing climate impacts, including through Federal climate adaptation planning and integrating consideration of climate impacts into Federal policies, programs, and funding. The Administration released a National Climate Resilience Framework and President Biden secured more than $50 billion for climate resilience and adaptation investments that are upgrading aging roads and bridges, including critical evacuation routes; restoring critical waterways, forests, and urban greenspaces; building forest health and reducing wildfire risk; bolstering water infrastructure and drought resilience across the American West; reducing the risk to federal assets from future floods; and modernizing our electric grid. Through portals like Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation (CMRA) and Heat.gov, the Administration is equipping communities with the information and resources they need to assess climate risks and implement adaptation actions in their communities. With historic investments from the President’s Investing in America agenda, the Administration stabilized the short-term security of the Colorado River and is making investments to ensure the long-term stability of the Colorado River Basin.
 
Accelerating a Clean Transportation Future
Last year, the Biden-Harris Administration released the National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, a landmark strategy for eliminating nearly all greenhouse gas emissions from the U.S. transportation sector by 2050. The Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act invest tens of billions to decarbonize maritime,  trucking, transit, rail, and aviation, all while making communities more walkable, bikeable, and connected. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is also investing $7.5 billion to build a nationwide network of convenient, reliable electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure along corridors and within communities, and $5 billion to put clean school buses on our roads. In addition, the President rallied automakers and autoworkers around a historic goal of having electric vehicles account for at least 50% of new passenger vehicles sold by 2030. To support this goal while driving down consumer costs, the Administration secured tax credits that reduce the cost of new or used clean vehicles by thousands of dollars directly at the dealership as well as tax credits to deploy EV charging and alternative fueling infrastructure to support clean vehicle deployment needs for individuals and businesses within rural and low income communities. The Administration is also leading by example to electrify the federal vehicle fleet, including 66,000 U.S. Postal Service delivery vehicles over five years.
 
Cutting Energy Costs and Pollution at Homes, Schools, and in Communities
Last year, 3.4 million American families saved $8.4 billion from IRA home energy tax credits for heat pumps, insulation, solar, and other clean energy technologies, and today states across the US are rolling out IRA rebates of up to $14,000 per household to help low- and middle-income families afford cost-saving electric appliances and energy efficiency improvements. The President established a $20 billion national clean energy financing network that will support tens of thousands of clean energy projects and cost-saving retrofits, reducing or avoiding up to 40 million metric tons of carbon pollution annually over the next seven years. The Biden-Harris Administration has also strengthened energy efficiency standards to save households and businesses money, with standards updated by DOE for dozens of appliances expected to provide nearly $1 trillion in consumer savings over 30 years, saving the average household more than $100 a year while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 2 billion metric tons. Schools across the country are using IRA clean energy tax credits and elective pay to install solar, energy storage, and ground source heat pumps.

Revitalizing American Manufacturing for the Clean Economy
President Biden’s Investing in America agenda has helped catalyze historic manufacturing growth, with factories opening across the nation. The private sector has committed over $910 billion in investments in American manufacturing and clean energy, including sectors central to our industrial strength. The President’s agenda is helping to make U.S. manufacturing the cleanest and most competitive in the world. The Inflation Reduction Act is investing more than $6 billion to slash climate pollution and support workers and community health at U.S. factories producing the steel, aluminum, cement, and other materials that form the backbone of our economy, nearly $2 billion to support shuttered or at-risk auto facilities retain or re-hire workers to support manufacturing in the electric vehicle supply chain, over $3 billion to bolster battery manufacturing, and over $4 billion through the Federal Buy Clean Initiative to bolster markets to buy cleaner materials. The Biden-Harris Administration’s historic steps to reduce super-polluting methane and hydrofluorocarbons are also harnessing American innovation and creating good-paying union jobs. 
 
Advancing Environmental Justice
Since Day One, the Biden-Harris Administration has prioritized a whole-of-government approach to environmental justice. The President signed a historic Executive Order that mobilizes the federal government to bring clean energy and healthy environments to all and mitigate harm to those who have suffered from pollution and environmental burdens like climate change. Through the Justice40 Initiative, over 500 programs across 19 federal agencies are being reimagined and transformed to maximize the benefits of President Biden’s unprecedented investments – from clean energy projects to floodwater protections to wastewater infrastructure – to communities that need them most. At the same time, the Administration is taking unprecedented action to protect communities from PFAS pollution, accelerate Superfund and brownfield cleanups, tighten standards for hazardous air pollutants, and enhance air quality enforcement. To ensure the voices, perspectives, and lived experiences of communities with environmental justice concerns are heard in the White House and reflected in federal priorities, policies, investments, and decision-making, President Biden also created the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council.
 
Delivering Clean Water and Replacing Lead Pipes
President Biden and Vice President Harris are fighting to ensure a future where every American has access to clean, safe water. The President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests over $50 billion in upgrading the nation’s water infrastructure – the largest investment in clean water in American history. The Administration has already launched over 1,700 projects to expand access to clean drinking water, replace lead pipes, improve wastewater and sanitation infrastructure, and remove PFAS pollution in water. The Biden-Harris Administration invested over $1 billion from the President’s Investing in America agenda to specifically accelerate the delivery of drinking water and community sanitation infrastructure projects in Indian Country, where almost 50% of communities are lacking this basic human right. President Biden has also made a commitment to replace every toxic lead pipe in the country within a decade, protecting families from lead poisoning that can irreversibly harm brain development in children.

Empowering Every Community to Advance Climate Solutions
The historic set of federal actions that the Biden-Harris Administration has taken are supporting communities across the country in seizing opportunities in the clean energy economy. The Administration has mobilized billions of dollars in investment in the energy communities and workers that have powered our nation for generations. To help young people access skills-based training for good-paying careers in the clean energy and climate resilience economy, the Administration launched the American Climate Corps, which will mobilize a new, diverse generation of more than 20,000 Americans. And with direct support from the Administration’s Investing in America Agenda, more than 45 states and more than 200 Tribes, territories, and metro areas have now developed their own Climate Action Plans. All of these foundational efforts will support climate solutions in the near-term and for years to come, helping the nation achieve the goal of reducing climate pollution by 50-52% below 2005 levels in 2030 and reaching a net-zero economy by no later than 2050.


Conserving our Lands and Waters
President Biden’s America the Beautiful initiative is supporting and accelerating voluntary, locally led conservation and restoration efforts across the country, and with 42 million acres already protected under President Biden, the U.S. is on track to meet the first-ever national goal to conserve at least 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030. The Biden-Harris Administration has established or expanded eight national monuments and restored protections for three more; created five new national wildlife refuges and significantly expanded five more; established two new national marine sanctuaries and begun the process to designate or expand protections for five more; created one new national estuarine research reserve; protected the Boundary Waters of Minnesota, the nation’s most visited wilderness area; safeguarded Bristol Bay in southwest Alaska from the impacts of mining; protected the Arctic Ocean from oil and gas development; and withdrawn Chaco Canyon in New Mexico and Thompson Divide in Colorado from further oil and gas leasing which will protect pristine lands and thousands of sacred sites. The Administration also directed the conservation of old-growth and mature forests, put conservation on equal footing with development in managing our public lands, launched the America the Beautiful Freshwater Challenge to protect, restore, and reconnect 8 million acres of wetlands and 100,000 miles of our nation’s river and streams, protected vast areas of caribou habitat in the Western Arctic for future generations, and is advancing the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of California.
 
Rallying Leaders of the World’s Largest Economies to Raise Global Climate Ambition
President Biden has restored America’s climate leadership at home and abroad. Under his leadership, the Administration is securing commitments from more than 155 countries to reduce methane emissions by at least 30 percent by 2030; successfully galvanizing other countries at COP28 to commit, for the first time, to transition away from unabated fossil fuels, stop building new unabated coal capacity globally, and triple renewable energy globally by 2030 and nuclear energy by 2050; launching a new Clean Energy Supply Chain Collaborative to work with international partners to diversify supply chains that are critical to a clean and secure energy transition; mobilizing other governments to follow the U.S. lead and commit to achieve net-zero government emissions by 2050 through a new Net-Zero Government Initiative; and becoming a world leader in innovative debt-for-nature swaps that have helped countries restructure over $2 billion in debt and unlock hundreds of millions of new financing for nature and climate.
 
Accelerating Federal Permitting to Deliver Clean Energy and Infrastructure More Quickly
The Biden-Harris Administration has taken action to accelerate clean energy infrastructure and deliver other critical projects by securing and directing long overdue resources to improve and accelerate permitting and environmental reviews. The Administration also finalized the Bipartisan Permitting Reform Implementation Rule to address climate change, protect public health, encourage better environmental outcomes, and promote meaningful public input on Federal decisions and projects.
 
House Republicans Continue Attempting to Roll Back Climate Protections
As President Biden and Vice President Harris implement the most ambitious and impactful climate and conservation agenda in history, House Republicans are taking action right now that would roll back investments in climate, clean energy, and public health. House Republicans’ efforts to gut climate protections through a variety of avenues – including appropriations bills, Congressional Review Act resolutions, and other legislative actions – would raise consumer energy costs, undermine public health protections, worsen the impacts of extreme weather events, and destroy environmental safeguards for our lands and waters.
 
Ongoing attempts by Congressional Republicans to roll back climate and environmental protections would:
 
Raise Consumer Energy Costs, including by:

  • Attempting to eliminate funding for the development of U.S. manufacturing capabilities in vehicles, trains and locomotives, maritime vessels including offshore wind support vessels, and aircraft.

 
Gut Public Health Protections, including by:

  • Trying to overturn Biden-Harris Administration rules that protect communities from coal plants’ water pollution, air pollution, and waste disposal.
  • Trying to overturn a Biden-Harris Administration rule that will reduce by 96% the number of people with elevated cancer risk near certain chemical plants, by reducing emissions of toxic chloroprene and ethylene oxide from those facilities.
  • Rolling back the Clean School Bus program that will reduce climate pollution and provide cleaner air for our nation’s children.
  • Undermining clean air progress by trying to overturn rules that reduce pollution from power plants, cars and trucks , and industrial sources.
  • Taking steps to block new Biden-Harris Administration rules to protect coal and other miners from toxic silica dust.

Destroy Protections for Our Lands and Waters, including by:

  • Trying to eliminate Presidential authority to establish national monuments altogether.
  • Working to dismantle President Biden’s America the Beautiful Initiative.
  • Threatening to expose cherished landscapes to new drilling, including 13 million acres of special areas in the Western Arctic.
  • Planning to reduce accountability for oil and gas companies.
Climate Action, Climate Change, Environment, Environmental Protection, News & Photo Features

FACT SHEET: During Climate Week, Biden-Harris Administration Announces Continued Progress on the American Climate Corps, Creates New Environmental Justice Climate Corps

American Climate Corps Has Already Put 15,000 Young Americans to Work as Part of Its Inaugural Cohort
 
Environmental Protection Agency and AmeriCorps Announce a New Environmental Justice Climate Corps; the Department of Housing and Urban Development Joins the Interagency American Climate Corps Initiative

Glen Canyon, Utah, is suffering climate-caused drought. Since taking office, President Biden has delivered on the most ambitious climate, clean energy, conservation, and environmental justice agenda in history – signing into law the largest investment in climate action ever, protecting more than 42 million acres of public lands and waters, creating good-paying clean energy jobs, and establishing the Justice40 Initiative, which sets the goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits from certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

During Climate Week, the Biden-Harris administration announced progress on its American Climate Corps. This fact sheet was provided by the White House:

Since taking office, President Biden has delivered on the most ambitious climate, clean energy, conservation, and environmental justice agenda in history – signing into law the largest investment in climate action ever, protecting more than 42 million acres of public lands and waters, creating good-paying clean energy jobs, and establishing the Justice40 Initiative, which sets the goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits from certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
 
As part of his historic commitment to tackle the climate crisis, President Biden launched the American Climate Corps (ACC) to mobilize the next generation of clean energy, conservation, and climate resilience workers, with a goal to put 20,000 young people to work in the clean energy and climate resilience economy in the initiative’s first year. Today, in celebration of Climate Week, the White House is announcing that more than 15,000 young Americans have been put to work in high-quality, good-paying clean energy and climate resilience workforce training and service opportunities through the American Climate Corps – putting the program on track to reach President Biden’s goal of 20,000 members in the program’s first year ahead of schedule.
 
Across the country, American Climate Corps members are working on projects to tackle the climate crisis, including restoring coastal ecosystems, strengthening urban and rural agriculture, investing in clean energy and energy efficiency, improving disaster and wildfire preparedness, and more. The American Climate Corps is giving a diverse new generation of young people the tools to fight the impacts of climate change today and the skills to join the clean energy and climate-resilience workforce of tomorrow.
 
The Biden-Harris Administration is making several additional announcements: 

  • The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and AmeriCorps are Announcing a New Environmental Justice Climate Corps, which will put more than 250 American Climate Corps members to work over the next three years providing technical assistance to community-based organizations in environmental justice communities – helping them access resources to carry out locally driven projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience, improve public health and safety, and build community capacity to address environmental and climate justice challenges. Environmental Justice Climate Corps members will be paid a living allowance and reimbursed for selected living expenses. In total, this allowance is equivalent to receiving more than $25 per hour throughout their year of service. They will also obtain the benefits of AmeriCorps VISTA service—including the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award, which is valued at $7,395 in FY24, and streamlined pathways into certain federal jobs—and gain mentorship and professional development opportunities. Applications for the Environmental Justice Climate Corps will open in early 2025, with a goal for its first cohort to start later that year. The partnership with EPA is AmeriCorps’ largest environmental partnership in the agency’s history and will build on the success of three other partnerships announced under the American Climate Corps: AmeriCorps NCCC Forest Corps, Working Lands Climate Corps and Energy Communities AmeriCorps, which together will support more than 500 new ACC positions over the coming years.
  • The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is Joining the ACC Interagency Initiative. Joining the seven initial signatories of the December 2023 ACC Memorandum of Understanding, today HUD will become the eighth federal agency member of the ACC Interagency Initiative. This step brings the ACC to the communities HUD serves, building upon the Department’s commitment to using low- and zero-carbon energy and supporting communities to increase their resilience, advance environmental justice, and create good jobs for residents.
  • The American Climate Corps is Fostering Federal-State Partnerships by establishing a partnership with state service commissions, which support national service in states across the country, to grow the number of state climate corps and strengthen existing state climate corps programs. Together, the American Climate Corps, state-level climate corps programs, and state national service leadership are committed to strengthening state climate corps, supporting impactful program implementation, and leveraging state and local partnerships to scale climate corps efforts across the country. To date, 14 states have launched their own state-based climate corps programs, including New Jersey who just today announced the creation of the New Jersey Climate Corps. 
  • American Climate Corps Will Host a Virtual Job Fair. The American Climate Corps is working to ensure that its members have a pathway to good-paying jobs following their terms of service, which is why later this year, ACC will host a virtual job fair for current and past members to learn about high-quality career opportunities in the clean energy and climate resilience economy. The virtual job fair will bring together the private sector, labor unions, and the public sector, including Federal agencies, to showcase career pathways available to ACC members.

 
Today’s announcements build on a year of successful program implementation, including:
 

  • Launch of the American Climate Corps Tour. This fall, to showcase ACC members’ important work across the nation, the American Climate Corps and senior Biden-Harris Administration officials is embarking on a national tour and visiting ten locations to highlight ACC members’ impact in communities across the country. The tour is making stops at a range of ACC project sites and featuring remarks by representatives of the Biden-Harris Administration and other Federal, state, and local elected officials. Visits include ACC member swearing-in ceremonies, service projects, and roundtables with ACC members.

Creation of the American Climate Corps Storytellers Project. Inspired by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project, the ACC launched the Storytellers Project, engaging artists and storytellers to capture the impact of President Biden’s American Climate Corps. The ACC Storytellers Project solicited applications from artists across the country. Ten accomplished storytellers were selected to document the impact of the American Climate Corps in communities across the country through photographs, videos, and other visual art mediums.

Biden Administration, Climate Action, Climate Change, Environment, Environmental Protection

FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Investments to Protect Freshwater Resources, Enhance Drought and Climate Resilience

During Climate Week, the Biden-Harris administration announced new funding and whole-of-government initiatives that build upon its ambitious freshwater agenda and help restore and conserve our freshwater resources and address climate impacts felt across the nation © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

During Climate Week, which coincides with the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, where climate has become a major issue in recent years, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a number of new initiatives including new investments to protect freshwater resources and enhance drought and climate resilience. This fact sheet is provided by the White House:

Our nation’s lakes, rivers, streams, estuaries, and wetlands are fundamental to the health, prosperity, and resilience of our communities and are held sacred by many Tribal Nations. They are not only the sources of clean drinking water that flows into the taps of our homes, but are also economic drivers supporting jobs and outdoor recreation across the nation. By absorbing and storing carbon, our nation’s waterways and wetlands – and the forests, grasslands, and farmlands they nourish – also play a critical role in the fight against climate change.
 
Since Day One, the Biden-Harris Administration has worked to secure clean water for all communities, protect our vital freshwater resources, and mitigate the impacts of drought. Given that communities often acutely experience the climate crisis through water-related impacts – from floods and droughts to polluted drinking sources and waterways – this Administration is making historic investments through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to protect, conserve, and restore our freshwater basins and ecosystems.
 
Meanwhile, many Republicans in Congress continue to deny the very existence of climate change and remain committed to repealing the President’s Inflation Reduction Act – the biggest climate protection bill ever – which would undermine the health, safety, and economic vitality of their own constituents.
 
During Climate Week, the Biden-Harris administration is announcing new funding and whole-of-government initiatives that build upon its ambitious freshwater agenda and help restore and conserve our freshwater resources and address climate impacts felt across the nation:
 

  • Investing in Long-Term Colorado River Basin Resilience: The Biden-Harris Administration is leading a comprehensive effort to make Western communities more resilient to climate change and address the ongoing megadrought across the region, including the Colorado River Basin, by harnessing the full resources of President Biden’s historic Investing in America agenda. The Administration’s investments in the Lower Colorado River Basin bridge the immediate need for water conservation while moving toward improved system efficiency and more durable long-term solutions. Overall, the funding for long-term water conservation initiatives in the Lower Basin is expected to save more than 1 million acre-feet of water, putting the Basin on a path to a more resilient and sustainable water future.
    • The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation is announcing the execution of the first three contracts for long-term water conservation under the Lower Colorado Basin System Conservation and Efficiency Program. Totaling approximately $107 million, taken together these first three projects – all with the Gila River Indian Community in the Lower Colorado River Basin of Arizona – will provide over 73,000 acre-feet of water conservation to support the sustainability of Lake Mead while also helping ensure long-term water resilience for the Community. The Bureau of Reclamation is also working on the companion program for the Upper Basin, which will provide additional water savings for the Basin’s long-term sustainability.
    • The Bureau of Reclamation is working with the following sponsors in the Lower Colorado Basin to negotiate water conservation contracts for ten additional proposed projects, including:
      • City of Phoenix
      • City of Tucson
      • Coachella Valley Water District
      • Salt River Valley Water Users’ Association & Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District
      • San Diego County Water Authority
      • Southern Nevada Water Authority
      • The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
      • Town of Gilbert
    • The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation is also signing agreements with the Imperial Irrigation District and the Bard Water District in partnership with the Metropolitan Water District in California to ensure the conservation of up to 717,100 acre-feet of water by 2026. This water will remain in Lake Mead in an effort to benefit the Colorado River System and its users.
       
  • Investing in Indian Country: The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation has announced historic Tribal water infrastructure investments totaling over $1.2 billion through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act, Reclamation Water Settlement funding, and annual appropriations. This includes a new investment of $9.4 million for Tribal drought relief and technical assistance projects that will restore wetlands, improve irrigation efficiency, and support groundwater monitoring.
     
  • Reconnecting Waterways and Restoring Aquatic Ecosystems: With over $3 billion in funding for ecosystem restoration and fish passage projects, the Investing in America agenda is helping secure cleaner rivers, safer communities, greater recreational opportunities, and improved fish and wildlife habitat, driving change across the landscape for people, communities, species, and ecosystems.
    • The Administration is announcing a suite of 10 transformational fish passage projects that to date have received over $150 million from eight Federal agencies. When completed, these fish passage and aquatic connectivity projects – located in communities from Maine to Ohio to California – will reconnect nearly 5,000 miles of rivers and streams across the United States. Reconnecting waterways allows natural functions to be restored in freshwater systems, improving their climate resilience and water quality, and therefore their ability to protect communities from catastrophic floods, droughts, catastrophic wildfire, and water pollution. Improving fish passage and reconnecting aquatic systems is one of the most effective ways to help conserve vulnerable species, while building safer infrastructure for communities and improving climate resilience. To date, the Administration has spent over $970 million on more than 600 fish passage projects in 45 states across the country.
    • The Department of the Interior today is announcing an additional $92 million in new resources from the Bureau of Reclamation’s WaterSMART Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Program to help restore important salmon and other native fish habitat across the West. These projects, when complete, will provide increased water quality, floodplain stability, and drought resiliency.
       
  • Collaborating with Stakeholders to Protect Freshwater Systems: At a Climate Week NYC event focused on the Global Freshwater Challenge, White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory announced a doubling of new partners in the America the Beautiful Freshwater Challenge – a nationwide initiative to protect, restore, and reconnect 8 million acres of wetlands and 100,000 miles of our nation’s rivers and streams by 2030. Over 100 members from across the country initially signed on to support freshwater restoration in their communities. That number has now more than doubled to over 211, including 14 states, 16 Tribal entities, 27 local governments, and 79 private sector members.
     

These announcements build on recent actions that deliver on the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to ensuring safe drinking water, including providing approximately $1 billion in funding to bring safe, clean water to Tribal communities; finalizing the first-ever standard to protect communities from toxic “forever chemicals,” along with rulemakings to hold polluters responsible for PFAS cleanup and to enhance safeguards against dangerous chemical spills in our nation’s waters; and continuing to deliver on President Biden’s goal to replace every lead pipe in America in the next decade. The Department of the Interior has invested more than $6.95 billion to fund over 831 Western water projects through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act; the Environmental Protection Agency has leveraged more than $9 billion in the last two years alone to communities across the West; and other agencies from the Department of Agriculture to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continue to make investments that increase water availability, reduce water use, and enhance resilience.

Biden Administration, Labor and Worker Issues, Labor and Workers, News & Photo Features

Biden, Harris Honor Workers on Labor Day, Review Pro-Worker Actions, Signs Order Raising Federal Pay 2%

The Biden-Harris Administration has consistently stood up for workers, implementing worker health and safety protections, like instituting rules for heat and for accommodations for pregnant women and protecting overtime pay and pensions, and even being the first sitting President to walk the picket line © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

By Karen Rubin, News-Photos-Features.com, [email protected]

This Labor Day, as President Biden and Vice President Harris visit Pittsburgh, it is important to be reminded of just some actions the most pro-worker and pro-union administration in history has taken to support good jobs and improve worker conditions because it seems the so called “working class” have no clue, and take for granted the gains made – with great effort – by the Biden-Harris without considering how fortunes would reverse under anti-worker Trump, if he retakes the White House. Too many take for granted protections for workers implemented by Biden-Harris administration who are forced to work under extreme heat conditions, and rights for pregnant women to have their work load and schedules adjusted to accommodate, and standing up for the rights of workers to organize. They forget how workers were forced by the Trump administration to go back to work during COVID without any safety precautions, or face losing unemployment or disability benefits.

  • Launched the first ever White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, chaired by Vice President Harris, which resulted in over 70 actions to promote worker organizing and collective bargaining for federal employees and worker employed by public and private-sector employees.
    • Signed the Butch Lewis Act as part of the American Rescue Plan to save the pensions of millions of hard-working union workers.
    • Implemented a new rule to require Project Labor Agreements on nearly all major federal construction projects of over $35 million, so federal construction projects will be delivered on time and on budget with good wages and well-trained workers.
    • Published a final rule from the Department of Treasury implementing prevailing wage and apprenticeship bonus credits for clean energy projects funded by the President’s Inflation Reduction Act to ensure workers are paid good wages and that these projects create equitable pipelines to these good jobs.
    • Published a new rule restoring and extending overtime pay protections to millions of workers.
    • Published the first update to Davis Bacon prevailing wages in nearly 40 years, which will increase pay for one million construction workers over time.
    • Proposed a new rulemaking from the Department of Labor that would protect 36 million indoor and outdoor workers from extreme heat on the job.
    • Signed a Registered Apprenticeship Executive Order to bolster apprenticeships in the federal workforce. Since then, federal agencies including the Departments Agriculture, Defense, Education Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, Transportation, and Treasury, and the Architect of the Capitol and U.S. Agency for Global Media have identified potential opportunities for developing new and scaling existing registered apprenticeships to create pathways to good jobs including in mission critical occupations.
    • Through the CHIPS Act, provided $200 million in dedicated CHIPS funding for training and workforce development to ensure local communities have access to the jobs of the future in upcoming projects and introduced a requirement that companies receiving grants under the CHIPS Act over $150 million create a child care plan to ensure access for their employees.
    • Invested nearly $730 million in Registered Apprenticeships, leading to more than 1 million registered apprentices receiving earn as you learn training for in-demand jobs.
    • Designated nine Workforce Hubs across the country to ensure we have the workforce we need for this Administration’s historic investments.
    • Vocally supported unions, including becoming the first sitting President to walk a picket line.
    • The NLRB expanded remedies available to workers when their employers engage in union-busting, to now include all direct and foreseeable pecuniary harm, such as financial loss from credit card debt, medical bills, or missed rent payments.
    • The NLRB overhauled the process for union representation elections by requiring an employer to bargain if it commits an unfair labor practice during the election process, and by reducing unnecessary delays before workers can vote.

In his Proclamation for Labor Day, President Biden declared:

      “Every year on Labor Day, we celebrate the dignity of America’s workers and the labor unions they have built.  I often say that Wall Street did not build America — the middle class built America, and unions built the middle class.  Labor unions have done so much for our Nation — giving workers a voice at the workplace, raising standards on the job, and fighting for better benefits and wages for us all.  Today, we honor the pioneers who fought for the rights of working people, pay tribute to the dedication of our American workforce, and honor the enduring movement that powers our economy and strengthens our Nation.

    “My father taught me from a young age that a job is about far more than just a paycheck — it is about your dignity.  When I came into office, too many people had lost both their paychecks and their sense of dignity.  Our economy was failing working-class and union families.  Decades of trickle-down economics sent jobs overseas, shut down factories, and hollowed out our communities.  People had lost their sense of pride, their security, and their pathway to the middle class. 

     “That is why I promised to be the most pro-labor, pro-union President in history and ensure unions have the support they need to fight for our workers.  Last year, the Department of the Treasury released a comprehensive report detailing how unions are not just good for union workers but non-union workers as well, showing that union growth helps to build a strong middle class in America.  I am proud to be the first sitting President to walk the picket line to support workers who were striking for better conditions.  I am also proud that, to date, we have created nearly 16 million new jobs, including almost 800,000 manufacturing jobs and nearly 900,000 construction jobs.  In fact, investment in construction of new factories has nearly tripled since I took office.  My Administration announced more than 60,000 projects to rebuild America’s roads, bridges, airports, ports, and more through our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.  Wages are up, inflation is down, and we have had the fastest recovery of any advanced economy in the world since the pandemic started. 

     “Furthermore, we are positioning American workers to lead the world in innovation.  I signed the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest investment in clean energy and climate action in history, creating nearly 335,000 clean energy jobs according to outside estimates.  I also signed the CHIPS and Science Act to bring semiconductor manufacturing back home and ensure that America’s clean energy jobs go to American workers.  To date, we have attracted nearly $900 billion in private-sector commitments to invest in manufacturing and clean energy.  I am proud that this manufacturing boom we ignited is being done with American products and led by American workers — the most highly skilled workers in the world — because of “Made in America” provisions that I championed and my Administration enforced. 

     “Today, more Americans are joining the workforce, and we have the highest share of working-age Americans in the workforce in over 20 years.  And over the past 2 years, more workers have been petitioning for union representation.  To ensure those workers have a voice on the job, I have required the use of project labor agreements for nearly all large-scale Federal construction projects.  I have also strengthened Davis-Bacon requirements to guarantee that prevailing wages pay workers what they deserve and enacted the Butch Lewis Act — the most significant law for union retirement security in 50 years — that has protected the pensions of 1 million union workers.  We issued a rule that expands overtime protections to millions of workers, and my Administration is working to crack down on noncompete agreements, which prevent 30 million Americans from taking new, higher-paying jobs.

     “My Administration is also making sure that workers feel safe and secure on the job.  That is why the Department of Labor is proposing a new rule that will establish the Nation’s first-ever Federal safety standard for excessive heat in the workplace.  That rule includes developing a response to heat illness, training employees and supervisors, implementing rest breaks, and ensuring access to shade and water.  And we are limiting workers’ exposure to toxic materials like silica dust to prevent them from developing preventable and irreversible illnesses.  My Administration also issued a rule to ensure that workers are empowered to have a representative accompany an Occupational Safety and Health Administration official during workplace inspections. 

     “I have long believed that workers deserve a seat at the table and an opportunity to join a union, organize, and bargain collectively with their employer without coercion or intimidation.  That is why I appointed people who actually care about American workers to the National Labor Relations Board.  And I established the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, led by Vice President Harris, which resulted in over 70 actions to promote worker organizing and collective bargaining.

     “As we look to the future, my Administration is creating long-term pathways to help people secure good-paying jobs, including union jobs.  We invested nearly $730 million to expand Registered Apprenticeships, which support the education and training needs of apprentices across the country.  And I signed an Executive Order that expands Registered Apprenticeship programs in the Federal workforce, encourages Federal agencies to hire people who have participated in these programs, and increases workers’ voices in Federal programs and contracts.  

     “This Labor Day, let us stand in solidarity with America’s workers, who are the engines behind our Nation’s prosperity.  Let us celebrate labor unions, who give voice to our workers and ensure they are given the dignity, respect, and protections in the workplace that they deserve.  And let us recommit to ensuring that every hardworking American has a fair shot at achieving the promise of the American Dream for generations to come.”

As part of the most pro-union administration in history, Vice President Harris has created millions of good-paying jobs. She is a strong supporter of the PRO Act, cast the deciding vote on legislation that is saving hundreds of thousands of union workers’ pensions, and previously has joined union members on the picket line. She will continue supporting workers and working and middle-class families as president, together with her nominee for Vice President, Time Walzm a former union member himself.

Governor Walz, , who is delivering remarks at the Milwaukee Area Labor Council’s laborfest 2024 in Milwaukee Wisconsin on Sept 2, passed the most pro-worker package of laws in Minnesota’s history — making it easier to form unions, strengthening worker protections, cracking down on union-busting, and giving workers paid leave.

Meanwhile, Biden just signed an order increasing base pay for federal workers by an average of 2%, stating, “We must attract, recruit, and retain a skilled workforce with fair compensation in order to keep our Government running, deliver services, and meet our Nation’s challenges today and tomorrow.  This alternative pay plan decision will continue to allow the Federal Government to employ a well‑qualified Federal workforce on behalf of the American people, acknowledging wage growth in the labor market and fiscal constraints.”

Donald Trump was one of the most anti-worker and anti-union presidents in history. He hurt autoworkers, shipped jobs overseas, and lined the pockets of the super wealthy and big corporations at the expense of the middle class. A second Trump presidency would be even worse – his Project 2025 agenda will raise taxes on typical working families by nearly $4,000 a year, allow employers to stop paying many workers overtime, and roll back labor and workplace protections. Trump ignored the National Labor Relations Board and the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, he would eliminate these agencies in a second term. He gloated and giggled with Elon Musk as the greatest “cutter” – firing striking workers, which prompted the UAW to file lawsuit.

One side appreciates what federal workers do, in the name of public service, to improve the lives of all of us, while Trump is vowing to fire tens of thousands of career professionals, experts, and staff on Day 1 who do not declare their loyalty to him, rather than the nation or Constitution. The Trump campaign aide who shoved the federal worker at Arlington National Cemetery doing her job of preserving the sanctity of that hallowed place, demonstrates the contempt Trump has for those he demeans as “bureaucrats” and “Deep State.”

__________________________

© 2024 News & Photo Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. For editorial feature and photo information, go to www.news-photos-features.com, email [email protected]. Blogging at www.dailykos.com/blogs/NewsPhotosFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures, Tweet @KarenBRubin Threads:@news_and_photo_features

Biden Administration, Climate Action, Energy, Environmental Protection, Infrastructure, News & Photo Features

FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Takes Action to Deliver More Projects More Quickly, Accelerates Federal Permitting

To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has deployed more than $560 billion in federal investments for over 68,000 projects across the nation, and the President has taken action to accelerate these projects by devoting long overdue resources to permitting and environmental reviews in order to deliver projects that deliver clean, renewable energy © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

The Biden-Harris Administration has consistently been about getting things done, though rarely breaking through the media fog focused on the latest Trump scandal and outrage. This fact sheet on how Biden is accelerating infrastructure projects that address the urgent need to transition to clean energy and provide jobs is provided by the White House:

President Biden has been clear that the government can and must deliver more projects, more quickly. Through his Investing in America Agenda, he is delivering on that promise by accelerating project reviews while protecting communities and our environment.
 
To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has deployed more than $560 billion in federal investments for over 68,000 projects across the nation, and the President has taken action to accelerate these projects by devoting long overdue resources to permitting and environmental reviews.
 
The Biden-Harris Administration has taken historic steps to accelerate and improve the federal permitting process so that Americans across the country can benefit from the promise of the Investing in America agenda – including lowering energy costs for families and creating hundreds of thousands of good-paying and union jobs. The Administration has taken a three-prong approach. First, investing $1 billion through the Inflation Reduction Act funds to hire experts and invest in new technologies to expedite reviews. Second, passing the first reforms to modernize the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the first time in 50 years and finalizing the Bipartisan Permitting Reform Implementation Rule to accelerate the federal environmental review process. And third, using executive authorities, wherever possible, to improve permitting and environmental review processes.
 
Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing two new actions that will help build more projects, more quickly. 

  • The Bureau of Land Management is announcing a roadmap to support expanded solar energy production by making renewable energy siting and permitting on America’s public lands more efficient. This action will help expedite reviews of solar projects by steering them to areas with high solar potential and low wildlife and land conflicts, and ease burdens on solar developers. The Bureau of Land Management will make over 31 million acres of public lands across eleven western states available for solar development, helping to deliver clean power to millions of homes.
     
  • The Environmental Protection Agency is announcing the conditional approval of a new rule which will allow for new offsets to create clean air credits in Maricopa County. Companies with vehicle fleets can now generate credits by replacing or retrofitting diesel-burning vehicles with electric vehicles. Manufacturers or other new emitters can then purchase those credits to balance out their future emissions. This will allow the county, which is now a center of semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S., to continue to build semiconductor fabs essential to our nation’s future and ensure that residents continue to have clean air.

 Delivering Results
 
The Administration’s actions to reform federal permitting have already delivered real results. New data from the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and federal agencies demonstrates that the Biden-Harris Administration is delivering more projects, more quickly while being responsible stewards of the environment and protecting communities.
 
The Biden-Harris Administration has cut 6 months off the median time it takes for agencies to complete environmental impact statements, the most comprehensive form of environmental review, representing 16% in time savings compared to the previous Administration and we are continuing to make more improvements.
 
Data indicates that there are similar results across a number of key sectors: 

  • Clean Energy & Transmission: The Department of Energy has cut environmental review timelines by half for environmental impact statements compared to the prior Administration. In addition, DOE has completed 15% more environmental reviews compared to the previous Administration.  In addition, the Department of Energy has started implementing the Coordinated Interagency Authorization and Permits (CITAP) program which is expected to cut review times in half for transmission projects.
     
  • Transportation: The Department of Transportation (DOT) has cut the average time it takes to complete an environmental assessment by more than one third. DOT has also completed 20% more reviews compared to the prior Administration for projects requiring environmental assessments or environmental impact statements.
     
  • Offshore wind: Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has completed environmental reviews for the nation’s first 10 commercial-scale offshore wind projects; before President Biden took office there were zero complete. Because of the Administration’s progress on permitting the nation’s first offshore wind projects and leasing new areas, the total U.S. offshore wind project pipeline now exceeds 80 gigawatts, enough to power more than 26 million homes if fully developed.
     
  • Onshore renewable energy: Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the Department of the Interior has permitted more than twice as many clean energy projects on public lands than it did under the prior Administration. Together, these projects are expected to help power more than 12 million homes across the country.
     
  • Broadband: Across the federal government, agencies are processing more than twice as many permits for high-speed internet projects on federal lands and property as they did under the prior Administration. NTIA has established and adopted a total of 36 new categorical exclusions to streamline processes, including for historic preservation and threatened and endangered species compliance for broadband.

 Additionally, for projects with minimal environmental impacts, the Biden-Harris Administration has expanded use of the fastest form of environmental review – categorical exclusions. Since the start of the Administration, over 15 federal agencies have developed, expanded, or adopted 125 categorical exclusions for projects with insignificant environmental impact in key sectors such as EV charging, broadband, semiconductor manufacturing, clean energy, and transmission. This includes new categorical exclusions adopted using new permitting efficiencies passed by Congress in the Fiscal Responsibility Act.  
 
Federal agencies are using categorical exclusions to review the vast majority of project decisions, including 99% of federal highway decisions. This is an increase from the last time similar data was analyzed by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which found that just 96% of Federal Highway Administration projects were processed by categorical exclusions. Other agencies are also utilizing categorical exclusions for the vast majority of projects including 99% of Department of Energy decisions, and 98% of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) projects decisions.
 
New Executive Actions to Accelerate Permitting
 
The Biden-Harris Administration has taken a number of steps in recent weeks to improve federal permitting processes to help advance projects critical to the President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda.
 
Streamlining Historic Preservation Reviews: Earlier this month, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) proposed a Program Comment to accelerate historic preservation reviews for millions of clean energy, transportation, housing, and building projects over the next two decades. This action builds on steps that ACHP announced earlier this year to accelerate historic preservation reviews for broadband projects.
 
Accelerating Transmission Projects: The Biden-Harris Administration has started to implement the new Coordinated Interagency Transmission Authorizations and Permits (CITAP) program which will help accelerate permitting for transmission projects to bring reviews down to a two-year timeline – twice as fast as the historical average of four years. A recent study of 33 projects found that had CITAP been in place from 2010 through 2020, it could have saved the equivalent of approximately 66 years in federal permitting time. The Department of Energy (DOE) recently opened the portal for transmission developers and project sponsors to apply for the CITAP program. In addition, the Department of Energy recently announced $371 million for 20 projects across 16 states to accelerate the siting and permitting of high-voltage interstate transmission projects and support community infrastructure projects.
 
Expanding Categorial Exclusions: In recent weeks, the U.S. Forest Service adopted 10 categorical exclusions that will accelerate its review of broadband projects. Data from the U.S. Forest Service indicates that these categorical exclusions will help streamline reviews for 100 broadband projects by 2027, thereby saving over $24 million in staff time per year and lead to a total reduction of over 20 years in processing time. In April the Bureau of Land Management adopted categorical exclusions to accelerate review of geothermal projects. And, earlier this month, the Department of Transportation announced a new categorical exclusion to help expedite reviews of projects dedicated to fixing older, leak-prone natural gas pipelines.
  
Modernizing NEPA Technology: Last month CEQ released new recommendations for using technology to modernize environmental reviews. In a new report to Congress CEQ evaluates permitting processes, include an analysis of 16 different agency technology tools and initiatives being advanced to improve the environmental review and permitting process.

Democracy, Democratic Party, Democrats, Elections, News & Photo Features

VP Kamala Harris Accepts Democratic Nomination for POTUS  Outlining ‘A New Way Forward,’ An Opportunity Agenda ‘For the People’ & Defense of Freedom, Democracy

In a stirring, pitch-perfect speech accepting the Democratic Party’s nomination for President, Vice President Kamala Harris prosecuted the case for her election, listing her credentials, outlining her “Opportunity Agenda”, her plans to bring the nation forward, and building to a powerful crescendo in declaring her defense of national security and America’s role as leader of the Free World defending freedom and democracy not only for every American, but for freedom-seeking people around the world.

Along the way, she listed why Donald Trump and the Republicans, with their chaos and Project 2025 blueprint to strip Americans of freedom, and Trump’s denigration of the nation and US military, his promise of retribution and weaponizing Justice and the military, and his kowtowing to the despots, tyrants and autocrats he hopes to emulate, was wholy unqualified to ever occupy the Oval Office ever again.

“It is now our turn to do what generations before us have done, guided by optimism and faith: to fight for this country we love, to fight for the ideals we cherish, and to uphold the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earth — the privilege and pride of being an American,” Harris declared.

Here is a highlighted transcript of her historic speech: – Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Vice President Kamala Harris at the Democratic National Convention after delivering her speech accepting the Democratic nomination for president. She would be the first Black South Asian woman U.S. president © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com via MSNBC.


      THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Good evening!  (Laughs.)  (Applause.)
 
     AUDIENCE:  Kamala!  Kamala!  Kamala!
 
     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  California.  (Laughs.)  (Applause.)
 
Good evening, everyone.  Good evening.  (Laughs.)  (Applause.)  Good evening.  (Laughs.)  (Applause.)
 
Oh, my goodness.  (Applause.)
 
Good evening, everyone.  Good evening.  Go- — (laughs).  (Applause.)  Good evening.  Thank you.  (Applause.)
 
Thank you.  Thank you.  (Applause.)
 
AUDIENCE:  Kamala!  Kamala!  Kamala!
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Good evening.  (Applause.)
 
Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank — thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Thank you, everyone.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Thank you.  (Applause.)
 
     AUDIENCE:  USA!  USA!  USA!
 
     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Thank you all. 
 
     AUDIENCE:  USA!  USA!  USA!
 
     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Thank you all.  (Applause.)
 
Okay, we’ve got to get to some business.  We’ve got to get to some business.
 
     Okay.  Thank you all.  (Applause.)  Okay.  (Laughs.)  Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you, thank you.  Please.  Thank you.  (Applause.)
 
     Please.  Thank you so very much.  Thank you, everyone.  Thank you, everyone.  Thank you.  (Applause.)
 
     Okay, let’s get to business.  Let’s get to business.  All right.  (Laughs.)  (Applause.)
 
So, let me start by thanking my most incredible husband, Doug — (applause) — for being an incredible partner to me, an incredible father to Cole and Ella.  And happy anniversary, Dougie.  (Laughs.)  (Applause.)  I love you so very much.
 
To our president, Joe Biden — (applause) — when I think about the path that we have traveled together, Joe, I am filled with gratitude.  Your record is extraordinary, as history will show, and your character is inspiring.  And Doug and I love you and Jill and are forever thankful to you both.  (Applause.)
 
And to Coach Tim Walz — (applause) — you are going to be an incredible vice president.   (Applause.) 
 
And to the delegates and everyone who has put your faith in our campaign, your support is humbling. 
 
So, America, the path that led me here in recent weeks was no doubt unexpected, but I’m no stranger to unlikely journeys.
 
So, my mother, our mother, Shyamala Harris, had one of her own.  And I miss her every day and especially right now.  And I know she’s looking down smiling.  (Applause.)  I know that.
 
So, my mother was 19 when she crossed the world alone, traveling from India to California with an unshakable dream to be the scientist who would cure breast cancer.  (Applause.) 
 
When she finished school, she was supposed to return home to a traditional arranged marriage, but as fate would have it, she met my father, Donald Harris, a student from Jamaica.  (Applause.)  They — they fell in love and got married, and that act of self-determination made my sister Maya and me.  (Applause.)
 
Growing up, we moved a lot.  I will always remember that big Mayflower truck packed with all our belongings, ready to go to Illinois; to Wisconsin — (applause); and wherever our parents’ jobs took us. 
 
My early memories of our parents together are very joyful ones: a home filled with laughter and music — Aretha, Coltrane, and Miles.  At the park, my mother would say, “Stay close.”  But my father would say, as he smiled, “Run, Kamala, run.  Don’t be afraid.  Don’t let anything stop you.”  (Applause.)  From my earliest years, he taught me to be fearless.
 
But the harmony between my parents did not last.  When I was in elementary school, they split up, and it was mostly my mother who raised us. 
 
Before she could finally afford to buy a home, she rented a small apartment in the East Bay.  In the bay — (applause) — in the Bay, you either live in the Hills or the Flatlands.  We lived in the Flats, a beautiful working-class neighborhood of firefighters, nurses, and construction workers — (applause) — all who tended their lawns with pride. 
 
My mother, she worked long hours.  And like many working parents, she leaned on a trusted circle to help raise us: Mrs.  Shelton, who ran the daycare below us and became a second mother; Uncle Sherman; Aunt Mary; Uncle Freddy; Auntie Kris.  None of them family by blood and all of them family by love.  (Applause.) 
 
Family who taught us how to make gumbo, how to play chess — and sometimes even let us win.  Family who loved us, believed in us, and told us we could be anything and do anything.  (Applause.)
 
They instilled in us the values they personified: community, faith, and the importance of treating others as you would want to be treated — with kindness, respect, and compassion.  (Applause.)
 
My mother was a brilliant, five-foot-tall brown woman with an accent.  (Applause.)  And as the eldest child — as the eldest child, I saw how the world would sometimes treat her.  But my mother never lost her cool.  She was tough, courageous, a trailblazer in the fight for women’s health.  And she taught Maya and me a lesson that Michelle mentioned the other night.  She taught us to never complain about injustice, but do something about it.  Do something about it.  (Applause.)  That was my mother. 
 
And she taught us — and she always — she also taught us — and she also taught us “and never do anything half-assed.”  (Applause.)  And that is a direct quote — (laughs) — a direct quote.
 
I grew up immersed in the ideals of the Civil Rights Movement.  My parents had met at a civil rights gathering.  And they made sure that we learned about civil rights leaders, including the lawyers, like Thurgood Marshall and C- — Constance Baker Motley — those who battled in the courtroom to make real the promise of America. 
 
So, at a young age, I decided I wanted to do that work.  I wanted to be a lawyer.  And when it came time to choose the type of law I would pursue, I reflected on a pivotal moment in my life. 
 
You see, when I was in high school, I started to notice something about my best friend, Wanda.  She was sad at school, and there were times she didn’t want to go home. 
 
So, one day, I asked if everything was all right, and she confided in me that she was being sexually abused by her stepfather.  And I immediately told her she had to come stay with us, and she did.  (Applause.) 
 
This is one of the reasons I became a prosecutor — to protect people like Wanda — because I believe everyone has a right to safety, to dignity, and to justice.  (Applause.)
 
As a prosecutor, when I had a case, I charged it not in the name of the victim but in the name of the people for a simple reason: In our system of justice, a harm against any one of us is a harm against all of us.  (Applause.)
 
And I would often explain this to console survivors of crime, to remind them no one should be made to fight alone.  We are all in this together.  (Applause.) 
 
And every day in the courtroom, I stood proudly before a judge and I said five words: “Kamala Harris, for the people.”  (Applause.) 
 
And to be clear — and to be clear, my entire career, I’ve only had one client: the people.  (Applause.) 
 
And so, on behalf of the people; on behalf of every American, regardless of party, race, gender, or the language your grandmother speaks; on behalf of my mother and everyone who has ever set out on their own unlikely journey; on behalf of Americans like the people I grew up with — people who work hard, chase their dreams, and look out for one another; on behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth, I accept your nomination to be president of the United States of America.  (Applause.)

     And with this election — and — (laughs) — and with this election, our nation — our nation, with this election, has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the past; a chance to chart a new way forward — (applause) — not — not as members of any one party or faction but as Americans.  (Applause.)

     And let me say, I know there are people of various political views watching tonight, and I want you to know I promise to be a president for all Americans.  (Applause.)  You can always trust me to put country above party and self; to hold sacred America’s fundamental principles, from the rule of law to free and fair elections to the peaceful transfer of power.  (Applause.)


     I will be a president who unites us around our highest aspirations.  A president who leads and listens; who is realistic, practical, and has common sense; and always fights for the American people.  (Applause.)

     From the courthouse to the White House, that has been my life’s work.  (Applause.)

     As a young courtroom prosecutor in Oakland, California — (applause) — I stood up for women and children against predators who abused them. 

     As attorney general of California, I took on the big banks — (applause) — delivered $20 billion for middle-class families who faced foreclosure and helped pass a homeowner bill of rights, one of the first of its kind in the nation.  (Applause.)


     I stood up for veterans and students being scammed by big for-profit colleges — (applause) — for workers who were being cheated out of their wages, the wages they were due — (applause) — for seniors facing elder abuse. 

     I fought against the cartels who traffic in guns and drugs and human beings — (applause) — who threaten the security of our border and the safety of our communities. 

     And I will tell you, these fights were not easy and neither were the elections that put me in those offices. 

     We were underestimated at practically every turn, but we never gave up, because the future is always worth fighting for.  (Applause.)  And that’s the fight we are in right now: a fight for America’s future.  (Applause.)

     Fellow Americans, this election is not only the most important of our lives, it is one of the most important in the life of our nation.  (Applause.)

Vice President Kamala Harris at the Democratic National Convention delivers her speech accepting the Democratic nomination for president. “It is now our turn to do what generations before us have done, guided by optimism and faith: to fight for this country we love, to fight for the ideals we cherish, and to uphold the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earth — the privilege and pride of being an American,” Harris declared. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com via MSNBC.


     In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man.  (Laughter.)  But the consequences — but the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious.  (Applause.)

     Consider — consider not only the chaos and calamity when he was in office but also the gravity of what has happened since he lost the last election.
     Donald Trump tried to throw away your votes.  When he failed, he sent an armed mob to the United States Capitol, where they assaulted law enforcement officers. 
 
     When politicians in his own party begged him to call off the mob and send help, he did the opposite.  He fanned the flames. 
 
     And now, for an entirely different set of crimes, he was found guilty of fraud by a jury of everyday Americans — (applause) — and separately — and separately found liable for committing sexual abuse.

     And consider — consider what he intends to do if we give him power again.  Consider his explicit intent to set free violent extremists who assaulted those law enforcement officers at the Capitol; his explicit intent to jail journalists, political opponents, and anyone he sees as the enemy; his explicit intent to deploy our active-duty military against our own citizens. 

     AUDIENCE:  Booo —

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Consider — consider the power he will have, especially after the United States Supreme Court just ruled that he would be immune from criminal prosecution.

     AUDIENCE:  Booo —

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails.

     AUDIENCE:  Booo —

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And how he would use the immense powers of the presidency of the United States not to improve your life, not to strengthen our national security, but to serve the only client he has ever had: himself.  (Applause.)

     And we know — and we know what a second Trump term would look like.  It’s all laid out in Project 2025, written by his closest advisers.  And its sum total is to pull our country back to the past.  But, America —

     AUDIENCE:  We are not going back!

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  — we are not going back.  (Applause.) 
     We are not going back.  We are not going back.
 
     AUDIENCE:  We’re not going back!  We’re not going back!  We’re not going back!

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  We are not going back to when Donald Trump tried to cut Social Security and Medicare. 

     We are not going back to when he tried to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, when insurance companies could deny people with preexisting conditions. 

     We are not going to let him eliminate the Department of Education that funds our public schools.  (Applause.)

     We are not going to let him end programs like Head Start that provide preschool and childcare for our children.  (Applause.)

     America, we are not going back.

     AUDIENCE:  We’re not going back!  We’re not going back!  We’re not going back!

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And we are charting — and we are charting a new way forward — (applause) — forward to a future with a strong and growing middle class, because we know a strong middle class has always been critical to America’s success.  And building that middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency.  (Applause.)

     And I’ll tell you, this is personal for me.  The middle class is where I come from.  My mother kept a strict budget.  We lived within our means, yet we wanted for little.  And she expected us to make the most of the opportunities that were available to us and to be grateful for them, because, as she taught us, opportunity is not available to everyone. 

     That’s why we will create what I call an opportunity economy — an opportunity economy where everyone has the chance to compete and a chance to succeed — (applause) — whether you live in a rural area, small town, or big city.

     And as president, I will bring together labor and workers — (applause) — and small-business owners and entrepreneurs and American companies to create jobs, to grow our economy, and to lower the cost of everyday needs like health care and housing and groceries. 

     We will provide access to capital for small-business owners and entrepreneurs and founders.  (Applause.)  And we will end America’s housing shortage — (applause) — and protect Social Security and Medicare.  (Applause.)

     Now compare that to Donald Trump, because I think everyone here knows he doesn’t actually fight for the middle class.  Not — he doesn’t actually fight for the middle class.  Instead, he fights for himself and his billionaire friends.  And he will give them another round of tax breaks that will add —
    
     AUDIENCE:  Booo —

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  — up to $5 trillion to the national debt.

     AUDIENCE:  Booo —
     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And all the while, he intends to enact what in effect is a national sales tax — call it a “Trump tax” — that would raise prices on middle-class families by almost $4,000 a year.
    
     AUDIENCE:  Booo –
     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, instead of a Trump tax hike, we will pass a middle-class tax cut that will benefit more than 100 million Americans.  (Applause.)

     Friends, I believe America cannot truly be prosperous unless Americans are fully able to make their own decisions about their own lives, especially on matters of heart and home.  (Applause.)  But tonight, in America, too many women are not able to make those decisions.

     And let’s be clear about how we got here.  Donald Trump handpicked members of the United States Supreme Court to take away reproductive freedom.

     AUDIENCE:  Booo —

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And now he brags about it.  In his words, quote, “I did it, and I’m proud to have done it.”  End quote.

     AUDIENCE:  Booo —

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, I’ll tell you, over the past two years, I’ve traveled across our country, and women have told me their stories.  Husbands and fathers have shared theirs.

     Stories of women miscarrying in a parking lot, developing sepsis, losing the ability to ever again have children, all because doctors are afraid they may go to jail for caring for their patients.  Couples just trying to grow their family, cut off in the middle of IVF treatments.  Children who have survived sexual assault potentially being forced to carry a pregnancy to term. 
 
     This is what’s happening in our country because of Donald Trump.  And understand, he is not done.  As a part of his agenda, he and his allies would limit access to birth control, ban medication abortion, and enact a nationwide abortion ban, with or without Congress.
 
     AUDIENCE:  Booo —

     And get this.  Get this.  He plans to create a national anti-abortion coordinator and force states to report on women’s miscarriages and abortions. 
 
     AUDIENCE:  Booo —

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Simply put, they are out of their minds.  (Applause.)

And one must ask — one must ask: Why exactly is it that they don’t trust women?  Well, we trust women.  We trust women.  (Applause.)

     And when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom, as president of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law.  (Applause.)

In this election, many other fundamental freedoms are at stake: the freedom to live safe from gun violence in our schools, communities, and places of worship; the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride — (applause); the freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water and live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis — (applause); and the freedom that unlocks all the others, the freedom to vote.  (Applause.)
 
     With this election, we finally have the opportunity to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to Vote Act.  (Applause.)

     And let me be clear.  And let me be clear.  After decades in law enforcement, I know the importance of safety and security, especially at our border. 

     Last year, Joe and I brought together Democrats and conservative Republicans to write the strongest border bill in decades.  The Border Patrol endorsed it.  But Donald Trump believes a border deal would hurt his campaign, so he ordered his allies in Congress to kill the deal.
 
     AUDIENCE:  Booo —

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, I refuse to play politics with our security, and here is my pledge to you.  As president, I will bring back the bipartisan border security bill that he killed, and I will sign it into law.  (Applause.)

     I know — I know we can live up to our proud heritage as a nation of immigrants and reform our broken immigration system.  (Applause.)

     We can create an earned pathway to citizenship and secure our border.  (Applause.)

And, America, we must also be steadfast in advancing our security and values abroad. 
 
     As vice president, I have confronted threats to our security, negotiated with foreign leaders, strengthened our alliances, and engaged with our brave troops overseas.  (Applause.)
 
     As commander in chief, I will ensure America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world.  (Applause.)  And I will fulfill our sacred obligation to care for our troops and their families, and I will always honor and never disparage their service and their sacrifice.  (Applause.)
 
     AUDIENCE:  USA!  USA!  USA!

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  I will make sure that we lead the world into the future on space and artificial intelligence; that America, not China, wins the competition for the 21st century; and that we strengthen, not abdicate, our global leadership. 
 
     Trump, on the other hand, threatened to abandon NATO.  He encouraged Putin to invade our allies.  Said Russia could, quote, “do whatever the hell they want.”
 
     AUDIENCE:  Booo —

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Five days before Russia attacked Ukraine, I met with President Zelenskyy to warn him about Russia’s plan to invade.  I helped mobilize a global response — over 50 countries — to defend against Putin’s aggression.  (Applause.)  And as president, I will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO Allies.  (Applause.)

     With respect to the war in Gaza, President Biden and I are working around the clock, because now is the time to get a hostage deal and a ceasefire deal done.  (Applause.)

     And let me be clear.  And let me be clear.  I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself — (applause) — and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself, because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on October 7 — (applause) — including unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival.
 
     At the same time, what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating.  So many innocent lives lost.  (Applause.)  Desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, over and over again.  The scale of suffering is heartbreaking.
 
     President Biden and I are working to end this war, such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom, and self-determination.  (Applause.)
 
     And know this: I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and our interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists.  I will not cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong Un, who are rooting for Trump — who are rooting for Trump.  (Applause.)
 
     Because, you know, they know — they know he is easy to manipulate with flattery and favors.  They know Trump won’t hold autocrats accountable because he wants to be an autocrat himself.  (Applause.)
 
     And as president, I will never waver in defense of America’s security and ideals, because in the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny, I know where I stand and I know where the United States belongs.  (Applause.)

     AUDIENCE:  USA!  USA!  USA!

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  So, fellow Americans — fellow Americans, I — I love our country with all my heart.  (Applause.) 

     Everywhere I go — everywhere I go, in everyone I meet, I see a nation that is ready to move forward, ready for the next step in the incredible journey that is America.
 
     I see an America where we hold fast to the fearless belief that built our nation and inspired the world — that here, in this country, anything is possible; that nothing is out of reach.  An America where we care for one another, look out for one another, and recognize that we have so much more in common than what separates us.  (Applause.)  That none of us — none of us has to fail for all of us to succeed.  (Applause.)  And that in unity, there is strength. 
 
     You know, our opponents in this race are out there every day denigrating America, talking about how terrible everything is.  Well, my mother had another lesson she used to teach: Never let anyone tell you who you are; you show them who you are.  (Applause.)
 
     America, let us show each other and the world who we are and what we stand for: freedom, opportunity, compassion, dignity, fairness, and endless possibilities.  (Applause.)
 
     We are the heirs to the greatest democracy in the history of the world.  And on behalf of our children and our grandchildren and all those who sacrificed so dearly for our freedom and liberty, we must be worthy of this moment.
 
     It is now our turn to do what generations before us have done, guided by optimism and faith: to fight for this country we love, to fight for the ideals we cherish, and to uphold the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earth — the privilege and pride of being an American.  (Applause.)
 
     So, let’s get out there, let’s fight for it.  Let’s get out there, let’s vote for it.  And together, let us write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told.  (Applause.)

     Thank you.  God bless you.  And may God bless the United States of America.  Thank you all.  (Applause.)

Election 2024

Democrats Announce Themes, Ways to View Democratic National Convention, Aug. 19-22

Vice President Kamala Harris, here in New York City speaking to the largest union of hospitality workers in the country, will accept the Democrats’ nomination for President on August 22, when the evening will be themed, “For Our Future.” The DNC outlined the themes for the four nights of the convention and the 16 different ways Americans can view, more than ever. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

CHICAGO – Today, Democrats announced the themes that will guide programming through the four nights of the convention and the 16 different platforms Americans can use to watch the convention. The themes are: “For the People, For Our Future.” The convention will further introduce Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz to the nation and lay out their bold vision for America, including how they will fight for people, our freedoms, and our future. 

Since the outset of convention planning, Democrats have been building the stage for our nominees to tell their story to America. Bringing back beloved elements of in-person conventions while building on the success of 2020’s innovative programming, the convention will tap into the growing energy and coalition behind the Harris-Walz ticket to reach more Americans wherever they are. 

“Our convention is an opportunity to bring the story of our party to the American people — not just the story of what we’ve achieved under the Biden-Harris administration, but how the Harris-Walz ticket is planning to build on that historic record for a new way forward into the future,” said Convention Chair Minyon Moore. “The story here is simple and it’s one that will resonate with Americans across the country: Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are fighting for the American people and America’s future — Donald Trump is only fighting for himself.”

The convention will take place over four nights from Monday, August 19 – Thursday, August 22, 2024. Convention programming will air live from the United Center in Chicago between 6:15-11 PM Eastern/5:15-10 PM Central on Monday, and 7-11 PM Eastern/6-10 PM Central for all other days. Over the course of those four nights, programming centered around the following thematics will bring the story of the Democratic party and our nominees to the American people. 

  • Monday, August 19: For the People – While Donald Trump puts himself first, Democrats are fighting for the American people. President Biden has exemplified this through his leadership and legacy as a historic president who put the American people’s interest above his own. The accomplishments and results President Biden delivered for people, with Vice President Harris by his side, will be on full display during the convention, as will Kamala Harris’s commitment to fighting on behalf of everyday Americans. At its core, the Harris-Walz ticket is a ticket for the people. 
  • Tuesday, August 20: A Bold Vision for America’s Future – This race isn’t just a choice between two candidates. It’s a choice between two very different visions of America. While Donald Trump believes our best days are behind us, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz know the best days lie ahead. Standing in stark contrast to the Trump-Vance Project 2025 agenda designed to take us backwards, the Harris-Walz ticket presents a brighter vision where everyone will have a chance not just to get by, but to get ahead.
  • Wednesday, August 21: A Fight for Our Freedoms – Vice President Harris has spent her entire career fighting for Americans’ freedoms. In Governor Tim Walz, Vice President Harris chose as her running mate a champion for America’s working families and a staunch defender of those same fundamental freedoms. Donald Trump spent his four years in office fighting to strip our rights away, and he’s once again running on an extreme agenda to go even farther in turning back the clock on all the freedoms we hold dear.
  • Thursday, August 22: For Our Future – America can’t afford to put Donald Trump back in the White House — because a second Trump term would be even more dangerous and more extreme than the first one. But the choice we face in November isn’t just about us versus Donald Trump. This election is a fight for the future. Vice President Harris and Governor Walz will lead America into a brighter, more hopeful era. 

16 Ways to Watch the Democratic National Convention

The Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) announced that it will stream the 2024 Democratic National Convention on over a dozen platforms – more than ever before – as part of its efforts to reach Americans everywhere they are. For the first time in convention history, the convention will host vertical streams across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. These cutting edge vertical streaming platforms will allow Americans to tune into the convention on their mobile devices and see the convention alongside the millions of Americans who will be watching from home.

With an unprecedented number of ways to tune in, this year’s convention will engage voters in new, innovative ways, meeting viewers wherever they are and however they choose to watch.

Primetime convention programming will air live from the United Center in Chicago from 6:30-11 p.m. Eastern/5:30-10 p.m. Central on Monday and 7-11 p.m. Eastern/6-10 p.m. Central on Tuesday-Thursday.

“The convention team set out with an ambitious goal of reaching more Americans than ever before, and today’s announcement is yet another milestone in our mission to broadcast Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz’s story to all Americans,” said DNCC Executive Director Alex Hornbrook. “With more and more Americans consuming their news in new and innovative ways, Democrats stand ready to meet them where they are – and to bring our vision for a brighter future to households all across the country.”

To ensure the Democratic Convention is the most accessible in history, the DNCC will offer a range of accessible viewing options. The program will be available with English and Spanish language audio, along with corresponding captions in both languages, opening up the convention to a broader range of audiences. Additionally, the DNCC will provide American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and audio description services to streaming partners, ensuring that all attendees can experience the convention fully and inclusively.

The official live stream of the 2024 Democratic National Convention will be available at DemConvention.com. On the website, visitors will also be able to find the complete convention schedule and resources for viewers, delegates, and the media, as well as further plans and details.

In addition to the DemConvention.com livestream and traditional broadcasts, the DNCC is working with streaming partners to broadcast and house convention content on a range of platforms, to bring the full broadcast live and on-demand to Americans all across the country.

The full list of platforms is as follows:

Computer + Tablet + Mobile Device

TV Device Apps (search for “Democratic National Convention” or “2024 DNC”)

  • AppleTV
    • RokuTV
    • FireTV

TV Providers

  • Comcast Xfinity X1
    • Comcast Xfinity Flex
    • DIRECTV via Satellite
    • DIRECTV satellite-free and DIRECTV STREAM
  • U-verse TV

Visit www.DemConvention.com for more information

News & Photo Features

Vice President Harris Lays Out First 100 Days Agenda to Lower Costs for American Families

Vice President Kamala Harris in Largo, Maryland, celebrating the two-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act and historic reductions in drug costs because of Medicare’s new ability to negotiate prices with Big Pharma. Harris, laying out a 100-days agenda to lower costs for working and middle-class families, will build on the IRA © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com via MSNBC

Vice President Kamala Harris announced several proposals for her first 100 days in office to bring down costs for American families. The steps announced today will cut taxes for the middle class, reduce grocery costs, take on price gouging, lower the costs of owning and renting a home, continue to bring down the costs of prescription drugs, and relieve medical debt for millions of Americans. These bold actions will address some of the sharpest pain points American families are confronting and bolster their financial security – what Harris calls “The Opportunity Agenda.”

Highlights:

🏠 Creating affordable housing 

  • Build 3 million new homes and create new tax incentives for builders who construct affordable units and starter homes
    • Prevent corporate landlords from using algorithms to collude to raise rents 
    • Block Wall Street investors from buying homes in bulk to resell at a premium
    • Provide $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers

🥕 Lowering grocery prices

  • Pass the first-ever federal ban on corporate price gouging on food and groceries
    • Take an aggressive approach to proposed mergers that reduce competition and hurt consumers among the biggest food producers

🏥 Cutting health care costs

  • Expand the Biden administration’s landmark $35 price cap on insulin for Medicare recipients to cover all Americans
    • Crack down on pharmaceutical companies who block competition 
    • Work with states to cancel medical debt for millions of Americans
    • Expand subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans that would save health insurance customers an average of $700 on their premiums

💸 Building a fair tax code

  • Raise the Child Tax Credit to $3,600 per child for middle class and working families, and $6,000 for families with newborns
    • Expand the Earned Income Tax Credit for workers in lower-income jobs, cutting taxes by up to $1,250

Eliminate tax on tips for hospitality and service workers making less than $80,000

These proposals are just one part of the Vice President’s economic plan, which also includes protecting and strengthening Social Security and Medicare; bringing together labor, small businesses, and major corporations to invest in America, create jobs, and deliver for Americans; lowering costs of education, child care, and long-term care; empowering workers and their right to come together to bargain for higher wages; creating a stable business environment with consistent and transparent rules; encouraging innovative technologies while protecting consumers; and so much more. Vice President Harris has made clear that building up the middle class will be a defining goal of her presidency. She will deliver for Americans who are demanding a new way forward towards a future that lifts up all Americans so that they can not just get by, but get ahead.

Here are her plans, in detail:

Build the American Dream: Lowering the Costs of Renting and Owning a Home

Vice President Harris knows that our nation’s housing affordability crisis is making it hard for tens of millions of Americans to make ends meet while putting the American Dream of homeownership out of reach for too many working families. That’s why she will launch an urgent and comprehensive four-year plan to lower housing costs for working families and end America’s housing shortage.

  1. Calling for the Construction of 3 Million New Housing Units To End the Housing Supply Shortage in the Next Four Years. There’s a serious housing shortage across America, and it’s driving prices up. Vice President Harris will work in partnership with industry to build the housing we need, both to rent and to buy, and to take down barriers that stand in the way of building new housing, including at the state and local levels. This will make rents and mortgages cheaper.
    • First-Ever Tax Incentive for Building Starter Homes. A Harris-Walz Administration will propose the first-ever tax incentive for homebuilders who build starter homes sold to first-time homebuyers—alleviating the shortage of houses on the market for aspiring homeowners. This would complement the Neighborhood Homes Tax Credit that encourages investment in homes that would otherwise be too costly or difficult to develop or rehabilitate.
    • A Historic Expansion of the Existing Tax Incentive for Businesses That Build Rental Housing that is Affordable.
    • A New Federal Fund To Spur Innovative Housing Construction. A Harris-Walz Administration will propose a new $40 billion innovation fund—doubling down on the $20 billion Biden-Harris Administration’s proposed innovation fund. Like that proposal, it would empower local governments to fund local solutions to build housing. It would also go further to support innovative methods of construction financing, and empower developers and homebuilders to design and build rental and housing solutions that are affordable—with one condition: they must show they will deliver results. This fund will support the expansion of innovative local efforts, like those in Wake County, North Carolina where they are using American Rescue Plan funds to build or preserve 2,400 affordable housing units including a 100-unit development coming online at Kings Ridge and a 176-unit affordable housing development at Tyron Station. Vice President Harris will also take action to make certain federal lands eligible to be repurposed for new housing developments that families can afford.
    • Cut Red Tape and Needless Bureaucracy. These plans will build on the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to cut red tape and enable more home building to bring down housing costs—which have advanced record levels of new home construction. Pushing this forward also means streamlining permitting processes and reviews, including for transit-oriented and conversion development, so builders can get homes on the market sooner and bring down costs.
  1. Lowering the Rent for Hardworking Americans by Taking on Corporate and Major Landlords. In addition to ongoing efforts by Vice President Harris and President Biden to expand rental assistance for hard-pressed Americans including for veterans, boost housing supply for those without homes, enforce fair housing laws, and make sure corporate landlords can’t use taxpayer dollars to unfairly rip off renters, today she is proposing plans to:
    • Stop Wall Street Investors from Buying Up and Marking Up Homes in Bulk. Community after community feels taken advantage of by Wall Street investors and distant landlords. Vice President Harris is calling on Congress to pass the Stop Predatory Investing Act, to curtail these practices by removing key tax benefits for major investors who acquire large numbers of single-family rental homes.
    • Stop Rent-Setting Data Firms From Price Fixing To Raise Rents by Double Digits. Corporate landlords are using private equity-backed price-setting tools to collude with each other and jack up rents dramatically in communities across the country. Vice President Harris is calling on Congress to pass the Preventing the Algorithmic Facilitation of Rental Housing Cartels Act, to crack down on these companies that contribute to surging rent prices.
  1. Providing Historic $25,000 Down-Payment Support for First-Time Homeowners. Many Americans work hard at their jobs, save, and pay their rent on time month after month. But they can’t save enough after paying their rent and other bills to save for a down payment—denying them a shot at owning a home and building wealth. As the Harris-Walz plan starts to expand the supply of entry-level homes, they will, during their first term, provide working families who have paid their rent on time for two years and are buying their first home up to $25,000 in down-payment assistance, with more generous support for first-generation homeowners. The Biden-Harris administration initially proposed providing $25,000 in downpayment assistance only for 400,000 first-generation home buyers—or homebuyers whose parents don’t own a home—and a $10,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers. Vice President Harris’s plan will simplify and significantly expand that plan by providing on average $25,000 for all eligible first-time home buyers, while ensuring full participation by first-generation home buyers. It will expand the reach of down-payment assistance, allowing over 4 million first time-buyers over 4 years to get significant down payment assistance.

Trump likes to talk about being a builder, but when he was President, he simply never got it done. Now, his Project 2025 agenda will make it more expensive to rent or buy a home. As a landlord, Trump used underhanded tactics to evict tenants from his properties, and he was sued by the Justice Department for racial discrimination​​. Year after year during his presidency, Trump tried to gut rental assistance programs. New home construction slowed down while Trump was in office—tightening the housing crunch and enabling his wealthy friends to profit. More housing units have been under construction every month of the Biden-Harris Administration than during any month of Trump’s presidency. Trump’s Project 2025 agenda will raise millions of Americans’ mortgage costs, with just one proposal increasing costs around $1,200 a year. The few people better off under Trump’s Project 2025 housing agenda: the wealthy investors who spend time at his Mar-a-Lago country club.

Lowering the Costs of Prescription Drugs and Relieving Medical Debt

As California’s Attorney General, Kamala Harris held Big Pharma accountable for deceptive and illegal practices, winning $7 billion on behalf of Americans in lawsuits brought against their unsafe and unfair tactics. As Vice President, she cast the tie-breaking vote in the Inflation Reduction Act to help save millions of Americans $800 a year on their health insurance, win the right for Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices with the big pharmaceutical companies, cap the cost of insulin at $35 for seniors, and cap seniors’ out-of-pocket drug costs at $2,000 starting next year. As President, she will build on these historic actions by working with Congress to:

  • Cap the cost of insulin at $35 and out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs at $2,000 for everyone, not just seniors.
  • Accelerate the speed of Medicare negotiations over prescription drugs. Building on the Biden-Harris administration’s work to allow Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs and cut the cost of some of the most expensive and most commonly used drugs by nearly 40% to 80% starting in 2026, Vice President Harris will allow Medicare to accelerate the speed of negotiations so the prices of more drugs come down faster.
  • She will increase competition and demand transparency in the health care industry, starting by cracking down on pharmaceutical companies who block competition and abusive practices by pharmaceutical middlemen who squeeze small pharmacies’ profits and raise costs for consumers.

Vice President Harris and Governor Walz will also work with states to cancel medical debt for millions of Americans and to help them avoid accumulating such debt in the future, because no one should go bankrupt just because they had the misfortune of becoming sick or hurt. This plan builds on Vice President Harris’ leadership in removing medical debt from nearly all Americans’ credit reports and in helping secure American Rescue Plan funds to cancel $7 billion of medical debt for up to 3 million Americans.

Trump wants to “terminate” the Affordable Care Act, and go back to the time when 100 million Americans with pre-existing conditions like cancer, diabetes, or asthma could be denied coverage, or charged thousands more. His Project 2025 agenda will reverse the victories over Big Pharma secured in the Inflation Reduction Act, and remove the Biden-Harris Administration’s caps on insulin and total prescription drug costs for seniors.

Lowering Grocery Costs

Vice President Harris knows that rising food prices remain a top concern for American families. Many big grocery chains that have seen production costs level off have nevertheless kept prices high and have seen their highest profits in two decades. While some food companies have passed along these savings, others still have not. Price fluctuations are normal in free markets, but Vice President Harris recognizes there is a big difference between fair pricing and the excessive prices unrelated to the costs of doing business that Americans have seen in the food and grocery industry.

That’s why Vice President Harris and Governor Walz will work to enact a plan in their first 100 days to go after bad actors to bring down Americans’ grocery costs and keep inflation in check. They will work with Congress to:

  • Advance the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries;
  • Set clear rules of the road to make clear that big corporations can’t unfairly exploit consumers to run up excessive profits on food and groceries.
  • Secure new authority for the FTC and state attorneys general to investigate and impose strict new penalties on companies that break the rules.

Extreme consolidation in the food industry has led to higher prices that account for a large part of higher grocery bills. To confront this issue, Vice President Harris will also direct her Administration to crack down on unfair mergers and acquisitions that give big food corporations the power to jack up food and grocery prices and undermine the competition that allows all businesses to thrive while keeping prices low for consumers. And her plan will support smaller businesses, like grocery stores, meat processors, farmers, and ranchers, so those industries can become more competitive.

These actions stand in stark contrast to Trump, who would increase costs for families by at least $3,900 with what is, in effect, a new national sales tax on imported everyday goods that American families rely on, like gas, food, clothing, and medicine. Sixteen Nobel laureates agree that Trump’s economic agenda would ignite inflation, and other experts predict that his plans would plunge the United States into a recession.

Cutting Taxes for the Middle Class—With Up to $6,000 Tax Credit per Child

Vice President Harris is proposing a new plan to get tax relief to more than 100 million Americans. Her plan will expand the Child Tax Credit to provide a $6,000 tax cut to families with newborn children. Unlike Trump and Vance, Vice President Harris is committed to ensuring no one earning less than $400,000 a year will pay more in new taxes.

Vice President Harris and Governor Walz’s plan will:

  • Cut Taxes for Middle-Class Families with Kids. Vice President Harris will restore the American Rescue Plan’s expanded Child Tax Credit and fight to make it the ongoing law of the land. It will provide up to $3,600 per child tax credit for middle class and the most hard-pressed working families with children.
  • A New $6,000 Child Tax Credit for Families with Children in the First Year of Life: On top of restoring this critical tax relief for families with children, Vice President Harris’ plan makes a historic expansion of the Child Tax Credit: providing up to $6,000 in total tax relief for middle-income and low-income families for the first year of their child’s life when a family’s expenses  are highest—with cribs, diapers, car seats and more—and many parents are still forced to forgo income as they take time off from their job.
  • Cut Taxes for Frontline Workers. They will expand the Earned Income Tax Credit to cover individuals and couples in lower-income jobs who aren’t raising a child in their home, cutting their taxes by up to $1,500.
  • Cut Taxes To Help Americans Afford Health Insurance on the Affordable Care Act Marketplace, saving an average of $700 on their health insurance premiums, totaling over $6,000 per year in savings the Affordable Care Act is providing—which Trump wants to repeal.

In contrast, Donald Trump is promising to reduce prices “immediately” by what sounds like exerting a power he doesn’t have to cut prices or even “drill, drill, drill.”

He is promising to raise tariffs, which will increase costs (inflation) for families by an average of $3,900 a year and give another billionaire tax break to his ultra-wealthy friends (equivalent to a tax handout of $3.5 million APIECE each year), give big corporations a $1.5 trillion windfall, and make it easier for wealthy tax cheats to avoid paying what they owe.

Trump promises to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act which will send energy costs skyrocketing, as well as repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), which will immediately increase health care costs and make access to health care unaffordable (again) for millions. He calls Harris’ insistence that health care is a right, not a privilege “communism.”

16 Nobel-winning economists have said that Trump’s economic policies would increase the national debt by trillions, eliminate millions of jobs, and raise costs for families.

The difference between Harris and Trump is what is possible and legal (and has already been shown to work, with the Inflation Reduction Act that helped spawn wage growth, low unemployment, economic development, clean energy, manufacturing), and what is not possible or not legal or within the power of the president, even one who thinks he has total immunity.

“Vice President Harris and Governor Walz will work with businesses, entrepreneurs, workers, and all stakeholders to drive an economy that creates opportunity and ensures stability and security for everyone.,” the campaign stated. “They believe competition is the lifeblood of our economy, and they will build the confidence and certainty that helps businesses innovate and grow. They will also fulfill their commitment to fiscal responsibility, including by asking the wealthiest Americans and largest corporations to pay their fair share—steps that will allow us to make necessary investments in the middle class, while also reducing the deficit and strengthening our fiscal health.

“Trump added a record amount to the national debt during his term, and now he and Vance are running to exact political retribution, attack the rule of law, undermine the independence of the Federal Reserve and other regulators, uproot these investments, disrupt global markets, and leave American communities behind.”

See also:

FACT SHEET: TWO YEARS IN, THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT IS LOWERING COSTS FOR MILLIONS OF AMERICANS, TACKLING THE CLIMATE CRISIS, AND CREATING JOBS