Pete Buttigieg, US Secretary of Transportation: This job in three and a half years has now taken me to every state in the Union. I've seen some remarkable places but I have never been to a place like Lake Tahoe. This is an incredible and beautiful setting for us to gather and in preparing to come I was trying to think about when I had first heard of Lake Tahoe. And I realized it was a very improbable way that I first came to know of this place.
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| Buttigieg in Tahoe |
When I was about 5 years old, I traveled with
my parents to Malta, the small island nation in the Mediterranean where my
father immigrated from in the 1970s, the one place where Buttigieg is a common
name.
And it was an extraordinary time in my life. We
visited family members, we explored that Mediterranean, country where he grew
up, and we stayed in a very basic but very pleasant rented apartment.
In that country houses often go by a name
rather than a numbered address and the address so to speak the name of the
place we stayed at was was called Lake Tahoe. I had no idea what that meant but
I learned that the Maltese family we were renting from had once visited this
place and were so enchanted with it that they named their home after it.
And I think that the fact that in one of the
most famously Scenic Mediterranean countries in the world, a family there
thought back with such warmth on a place thousands of miles away here. And against
all Mediterranean instincts I might add a freshwater lake, I thought, I’ve got
to see this place someday. And now I finally am.
So already I have a sense of what makes this
place so magical- Waters that evoke what the Greek poet Homer called the wine
dark sea for reasons having nothing to do with its color but that blue depth
that has an opacity to it that's not unlike that of a glass of red wine.
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Water, its color that blue depth that has an
opacity to it that's not unlike that of a glass of red wine.
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I see the magic of this place and why you all
work so hard to preserve it. And that's why we've got a lot to talk about.
What I want to share with you is an optimistic
outlook on our progress fighting climate change and protecting Lake Tahoe
through among other things good Transportation policy. This is not reflective
reflexive or naive optimism. It's an optimism I think is justified by evidence,
by the work that we're undertaking, things that I’ve seen on the ground here
and across the country.
But to start I do want to be clear about the
stakes of why we're doing this work and the urgency behind it, something I'm
also seeing across this country.
July 21st was the Earth's hottest day in
recorded history. That record stood for one day before it was broken again the
very next day. All told we are living through the hottest year in recorded
history.
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July 21st was the Earth's hottest day in
recorded history. That record stood for one day before it was broken again the
very next day. All told we are living through the hottest year in recorded
history.
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Climate change is a global issue that has come
to take almost Cosmic proportions, but its consequences are very close to home.
They are local, they are personal, we see it right here. Wildfires of
increasing frequency and severity are now a regular threat to this Basin. Even when
they are not an immediate evacuation threat, they degrade the air quality here;
like the consequences of the Park fire and Crozier fire makes you hesitate to
let your kids play outside and breathe that in, or to yourself enjoy the great
outdoors that are so iconic here.
And of course you've experienced wildfires much
closer to home coming together on the third anniversary of the start of that
Caldor fire that burned over 12,000 acres and forced more than 50,000 people to
evacuate.
And I know you are confronting the fact that
even on a blue sky day like this the lake itself is at risk with air
temperatures warming the lake is also warming algae blooms that are appearing
near the shores. And we've seen across the country how that phenomenon has
prevented people from using Lakes that used to be such an important part of
their lives and livelihoods.
As secretary I have seen firsthand different
versions of the threat and impact of climate change. Across America a mudslide
in Colorado that took out Trucking Supply chains, a drought on the Mississippi
River that impacted barge movement deteriorating infrastructure due to sea
level rise, frequent and ferocious hurricanes on the East Coast, a deadly
wildfire in Hawaii, and so much more. It's really no longer appropriate to talk
about climate change as a threat which is a word that conveys something that
that might pose a problem later on, climate change is upon us, and nothing can
be gained by denying the harms that it is already visiting upon Americans in
every part of this country.
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It's really no longer appropriate to talk about
climate change as a threat which is a word that conveys something that that
might pose a problem later on, climate change is upon us
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You may be remembering that I promised that my
remarks would be optimistic so I’ll get to that part now, because I meant it. We're
getting to that. Because of you the people of Tahoe are delivering
forward-looking Transportation policy that reduces carbon pollution and makes
this community more resilient in the face of extreme weather. You're innovating
you're leading you're Crossing political lines and state lines and we're proud
to be your partner in that work. I
Got to
see some of it today and I want to highlight a few elements of that by going
back to the original mode of transportation, one often overlooked but the one
that we've actually been going with for most of the last 100,000 years or so
called walking, or a bit more broadly what we Now call Active transportation. We
always make things more complicated than they ought to be.
Multi-use paths are ensuring that people can
get to where they need to go, whether it's by foot or bicycle or wheelchair. And
in doing so they don't just enhance quality of of Life they also save lives. They're
part of our agenda to reverse the rise of roadway deaths in this country that
has largely been propelled by what has been happening to vulnerable Road users
like those who walk and bike and role.
Providing self safe options for them is a core
part of our mission. And so I think in that sense it's important to make clear
that trails are not ornamental. They are fundamental to a good and safe
transportation system.
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Trails are not ornamental. They are fundamental
to a good and safe transportation system.
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So that's why one of the happy tasks I have
today is on behalf of the Biden Administration to officially congratulate you
on our $24 million award to build a new stretch of that Tahoe East Shore Trail
that's going to make such a difference.
And meanwhile for trips where active
Transportation isn't the right choice, we're also supporting the important work
going on here to modernize Tahoe’s Transit.
When the right Trail and Transit infrastructure
exist together, people have alternatives to single occupancy Vehicles. It means
more commuters and more Travelers are not forced to bring two thousand pounds
of metal with them every time they leave the house or go to a destination.
And that's important, not just for fighting
climate change but for fighting congestion and improving local air quality and
reducing the pollution that can directly affect the lake Clarity that is so
important in this place.
So on behalf of the Biden Harris Administration
I'm also thrilled to formally congratulate you on our almost $8 million reward
for new diesel electric hybrid buses that improve service and reduce congestion
pollution and noise in this community.
Tahoe is also leading the way in making
Transportation networks here more resilient against extreme weather events like
wildfires. So this is the last time I get to do this for now in this speech
congratulations on our almost $2 million award to upgrade emergency
communications and identify Transportation vulnerabilities on top of another
million for technology to analyze visitor travel patterns and deploy strategies
to reduce congestion, particularly in emergencies.
We are proud to support you in your work on
resiliency in this community. So Tahoe in just the last year has earned
competitive Federal Awards to deliver multi-use Trails, cleaner Transit, and
transportation resilience. And that is a credit to this community because those
are also very competitive programs. And I certainly understand why this
community is working so hard.
This is one of the greatest natural gifts in
all of America.
As I shared earlier I’ve met people from all
over the world who are enchanted by this place sometimes for the rest of their
lives on the strength of a single visit. And if you actually live here, I can
only imagine how deeply and how fully this Lake becomes a part of your being. Yet
as you all know, work to improve transportation and reduce pollution right here
in the Basin. It's essential but it's not of itself enough to protect Lake
Tahoe and all of the places we care about.
We have to swiftly reduce carbon pollution
nationally and globally. We cannot protect Lake Tahoe alone. For that matter
the people of Utah cannot cannot protect the Great Salt Lake alone, people of
New York cannot prevent the Subways from flooding alone. But we can do all of
those things if we Act together and that's what we've been doing, mobilizing
across States and even across International borders to enlist one another in a
shared project that is comparable in scale only to war efforts from previous
generations.
Except this time it's not each other that we're
fighting it's each other that we're fighting for.
So very briefly I want to talk about some of
the ways we're acting to reduce carbon pollution across the country and the
globe through better transportation.
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Reduce carbon pollution across the country and
the globe through better transportation
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First we are harnessing the electric vehicle
Revolution. That's a revolution I want to emphasize was coming to the
automotive sector no matter what but certain things were far from certain. Would
it happen quickly enough to make a difference against climate change? Would it
happen fairly so that every American could take advantage of the cost savings
that EV owners get every month? And would it be made in America by American
workers?
The policies of our administration are aimed at
answering all of those questions with a resounding yes.
Next as we see in Tahoe, we are building the
infrastructure so Americans have more Transportation options. We're making the
biggest investment in public transit in the history of the United States. And to
take just one of hundreds of examples, I began My Week with a visit in Las
Vegas to the start of construction on a new bus Rapid Transit line that's going
to give residents there a faster more reliable bus ride every day.
We're also finally giving passenger rail its
due. In this country in the Biden Harris Administration we're building new
train routes in the Midwest and Southeast, we're modernizing the heavily used
Northeast Corridor, and in April I joined for the start of construction on what
will be the first true High-Speed Rail operating on U.S. soil connecting Las
Vegas to Southern California and we were excited about about that project.
But as you know, Carbon pollution respects no
National borders. So we're also working internationally, we're launching green
shipping corridors between the west coast and our allies in Asia, between the
great lakes and Canada, and we're taking a Global Leadership role to push
forward the use of more sustainable aviation fuel which is also a huge economic
Boon for Americans.
And that's the other thing I want to stress as
I speak with you today, The Economic Opportunity of climate.
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The Economic Opportunity of Climate
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Because for a long time people have been sold a
false Choice, climate versus jobs, as if the only ways to strengthen the
economy were at the expense of our environment and vice versa. It's just not
true. We've got to put that idea behind us. And in the Biden Harris
Administration we are showing how fighting climate change is not just
compatible with job creation, but essential to creating jobs for the future.
I was just in Wisconsin I sat down with Farmers
making a good living growing crops for ethanol and sustainable byproducts which
they now sell around the world through Port Milwaukee, where I might add we're
making some Investments to improve capacity.
Just 70 miles away from here at the Tahoe Reno
industrial center, this Administration supported $2 billion loan commitment to
help Redwood materials build an EV battery recycling and manufacturing plant.
That's going to employ over three thousand
people in good paying construction jobs and then once built we'll employ over 1,500
people in good paying manufacturing [Music] jobs.
Companies around the world are seeing these
climate policies and the improved supply chain infrastructure like the future
Inland Port that we're funding in Nevada and they understand that the best way
to capitalize on that clean energy future is to invest right here in America.
Just since this Administration arrived we count
400 new or expanded facilities for processing materials manufacturing batteries
and assembling EVS. And those facilities alone are projected to create 140,000 jobs.
So as a child of the industrial Midwest,
someone whose Boyhood Hangouts sat literally in the shadows of crumbling
Factory buildings, it means a lot to me to see these kinds of facilities
growing again, often in places that had been left out of the global economic
recovery. Until now 75% of clean energy Investments since 2022 have been in
counties with incomes below the medium; and we are proud to expand and extend
that kind of opportunity now.
In addition to the new jobs that we're creating
through climate and resiliency work, we're also seeing that if we don't step
this up, a failure to address climate change will threaten jobs that many
people didn't think of as linked to climate at all.
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A failure to address climate change will
threaten jobs that many people didn't think of as linked to climate at all.
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When I was in Salt Lake City, we heard about
farmers and fishing guides and ski instructors struggling economically because
of the Great Salt Lake literally drying. In Florida we heard about
astronomically rising cost of insuring a home because of extreme weather. I
know many many here have been following what they went through at Lake [INAUDIBLE]
We hear similar concerns everywhere we go.
The transportation sector is the biggest
contributor to climate change in the US.
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The transportation sector is the biggest
contributor to climate change in the US.
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To me that's nothing but a challenge, to Aspire
to be the biggest contributor to Solutions as well. And that's our focus. Of course,
it's not just Transportation, on the energy side the US is projected to build
more electric generation Capacity this year than we have in two decades 95% of which is clean energy.
On the conservation side the Biden Harris
Administration has protected more than 41 million acres of land and water, more
than any previous administration at this stage. And the list goes on. When you
add it all up the result is extraordinary.
America is preparing to cut our emissions in
half by 2030 and reach Net Zero by 2050 [Applause] and look.
We couldn't be doing this if President Biden
and vice president Harris hadn't passed the biggest climate law of any country
in human history. Alongside that most transformational infrastructure law in
over 70 years.
I'm proud of those laws. But we also couldn't
do this without you, without communities leading across the country. It's your
visions that we're supporting not ours. In fact one thing that all of the sixty
thousand projects that we reporting, including the ones around here have in
common, is that zero out of those sixty thousand were invented and cooked up at
the US dot headquarters in Washington.
Our philosophy is that the ideas aren't going
to come from Washington but more of the funding should. And now at last it is
so. I'm optimistic not complacent but optimistic.
But we have to stay with this work because
often we hear about ideas for policy changes that would move us backwards of these
achievements that are achievements, that in my opinion ought to command
bipartisan support.
Sometimes I find myself in Washington still
having to assert and defend the simple reality that climate change is even
occurring and that it's hurting people. Today the American people are smart and
can handle the truth, when they are told it in straightforward terms, and
deserve a robust debate not on whether to do something or do nothing.
But on how to effectively and aggressively
confront these challenges so when this Administration is investing in
resiliency and climate, we don't care if those communities elected officials who
voted with us or against us.
Climate change is hurting everybody and
fighting climate change is creating economic opportunities that help everybody;
and the Biden Harris Administration serves all of America; and that's one more
reason it's special to be here in addition to some some opportunities to geek
out on Transportation policy.
When I was at the TRPA, I also got a bit of a
history lesson. I saw these newspaper stories where you had Governor Reagan and
Laxalt and Nixon doing what they could for Environmental Protection, leading to
that extraordinary bi-state bipartisan cooperation that we see here.
There's a lesson in that.
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There's a lesson in that (TRPA) …
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There are glimmers in that historical tradition,
and in what we see around us today of the kind of future I want to live in, a
future where when it comes to climate change and Environmental Protection the
only argument between the parties is over who's doing it better, not whether we
ought to do something about it at all.
And I see so many elements of that right here
in the bipartisan cooperation surrounding us on this stage at this forum and in
this place. I'll end with this.
The new federal program that funded that
resiliency project I mentioned is called protect in the great tradition of how
name bills get named in Washington. It's an acronym for something I just
remember that the r is for resilience but protect is also a fitting name. Sometimes
I worry our language actually gets away from us when we talk about the planet
as if it was an abstract thing that we're protecting the planet.
We're protecting something a lot more close to home than that. We're protecting this place we're protecting each other we're protecting our kids. Climate change need not be yet another front in some made-up parent culture War.
END OF TRANSCRIPT
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Weblogged by Kay Ebeling
Part of the City of Angels Blog Transcript Project
https://cityofangels25.blogspot.com/2024/08/what-is-transcript-project-at-city-of.html
-ke
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