Vice President Kamala Harris capped off the Biden administration’s second Investing in America tour in Baltimore on Friday, announcing new grant opportunities worth $20 billion to go toward projects that reduce pollution. 

“It is clear that the clock is not only ticking, it is banging,” Harris said. “And we must act.” 

What You Need To Know

  • The Biden administration announcing new grant opportunities worth $20 billion to go toward projects that reduce pollution; Harris said the funds be given to nonprofits, community lenders and clean financing institutions to aid clean technology projects around the country 

  • Harris' remarks wrapped up the second wave of the administration’s Investing in America tour in which officials traveled the country hoping to convince the public Biden's economic agenda – dubbed “Bidenomics” – is working 

  • The funds come from the $27 billion dollar Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a program in the Inflation Reduction Act, which Congress passed along party lines and President Joe Biden signed in August of last year 

The administration launched two new competitions for the federal funds, which Harris said will be given to nonprofits, community lenders and clean financing institutions to aid clean technology projects around the country. 

Harris, who called Friday’s announcement the “largest investment in financing for community based climate projects in our nation’s history,” cited examples of projects the money could fund. Those projects included installing energy efficient appliances in affordable housing units and small business owners receiving zero interest loans to electrify their fleet of delivery vehicles. 

“My whole career I have believed in the power of public-private partnerships,” Harris said while delivering remarks at Coppin State University, a HBCU in Maryland. “I've seen how much more we can accomplish when we combine the experience and expertise of the private sector with the reach and the scale that only government can provide.”

Harris said the $20 billion investment by the government is an “incentive, by design, for billions more dollars from the private sector.” A fact sheet put out by the White House pledges a significant portion of the funds will go to projects in low-income and underserved communities. 

“The climate crisis impacts everybody, but it does not impact all communities equally,” Harris said. “Poor communities, rural communities, native communities and communities of color are often the hardest hit and the least able to recover.” 

The funds come from the $27 billion dollar Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a program in the Inflation Reduction Act, which Congress passed along party lines and President Joe Biden signed in August of last year. 

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan announced last month the other $7 billion in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund will go toward increasing access to clean solar energy. 

Harris was joined in Baltimore on Friday by Regan, Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., Rep. David Trone, D-Md. 

Her remarks wrapped up the second wave of the administration’s Investing in America tour in which officials traveled the country touting what they consider to be the president’s biggest legislative achievements and hoping to convince the public his economic agenda – dubbed “Bidenomics” – is working. 

Top officials have traveled to more than 30 states and territories to participate in more than 50 events since the start of the tour about three weeks ago, according to the White House.