The University at Buffalo rolled out the welcome mat for Kamala Harris Wednesday morning with its first official comments about the vice president’s visit.

In a statement, UB said its Amherst campus is “an ideal venue” for Harris to promote the Inflation Reduction Act, given the university’s sustainability research and education. The $750 billion climate, health care and tax bill signed by President Joe Biden last month is the largest federal clean energy investment in American history.

“We are deeply honored to host Vice President Kamala Harris at the University at Buffalo and have the opportunity to showcase the impactful ways that we are harnessing UB’s tripartite mission of research, education and engagement to mitigate the detrimental effects of climate change by developing innovative solutions for a sustainable world,” said UB President Satish K. Tripathi in a statement.

Tripathi noted that UB is conducting research in areas like greenhouse gases and glacial ice sheets, has degree programs in fields like sustainability leadership, and even has a goal of being carbon neutral on campus by 2030.

“We look forward to hearing from the vice president about the Inflation Reduction Act’s measures to combat the climate crisis and improve American energy security, just as we look forward to supporting the administration’s ambitious climate action goals by continuing to channel our disciplinary expertise into one of the most critical challenges of our time,” Tripathi said.

If you’re driving near the University at Buffalo Wednesday, expect some traffic jams.

The Amherst Police Department tweeted that there may be road closures, as well as traffic delays, detours and backups, due to Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to UB. Police say this could last anywhere from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Harris is set to speak on campus at approximately 2 p.m. regarding the Inflation Reduction Act that President Joe Biden signed into law next month.

Vice President Kamala Harris has landed at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport.

Harris deplaned from Air Force Two at approximately 11:50 a.m. She was greeted by several local elected officials, including Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown.

The motorcade is expected to take Harris to the University at Buffalo’s North Campus in Amherst. She is set to tour UB’s GRoW Clean Energy Center and then give a speech about the Inflation Reduction Act at UB’s Center for the Arts.

The stage is set and security is in place for Vice President Kamala Harris’ speech at the University at Buffalo.

Harris will speak about the Inflation Reduction Act on a makeshift stage in UB’s Center for the Arts at approximately 2 p.m. It includes a podium, blue backdrop, as well as American flags and the New York State flag.

Members of the media and guests were allowed into the Center for the Arts a little after 12 p.m. Several local elected officials are expected to be in attendance.

There’s a heavy police presence both on the Amherst campus and the surrounding highways. WBFO witnessed several New York State Police and Amherst Police Department vehicles along Interstate 290. The U.S. Secret Service is also on hand.

Vice President Kamala Harris is set to discuss the Inflation Reduction Act at the University at Buffalo at 2 p.m.

You can watch it live here.

Tom Dinki

/

WBFO News

Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a 13-minute speech at the University at Buffalo Wednesday afternoon in which she applauded UB students and other young people fighting climate change.

“You are leading us forward as our nation, as our world. And we are counting on you,” Harris told them.

The speech was part of the White House’s push to tout the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law last month by President Joe Biden. The $750 billion climate, health care and tax bill fell short of what progressive Democrats and climate activists had hoped for, but it is the largest federal clean energy investment in American history.

Harris said the transportation sector is the largest source of greenhouse gases. Thus, the legislation will be investing billions of dollars into transitioning buses, trucks, cars and other modes of transportation to electric.

The vice president also addressed inequality. She said although the climate crisis touches all communities, it does not touch all communities equally. She said communities of color have borne the brunt of toxic air and water pollution.

Tom Dinki

/

WBFO News

University at Buffalo President Satish Tripathi said he was excited that Vice President Kamala Harris got to tour a campus solar farm and research home.

The GroW Clean Energy Center is an ultra-energy-efficient demonstration home that serves as an education center on the North Campus in Amherst. Harris visited the center before her remarks about climate change action at UB’s Center for the Arts.

Tripathi said the university is a leader on mitigating climate change — from applying campus research on being green, to a new science building in the works, to rehabbing aging dorms on the North and South Campuses.

“You've heard of our major project on plastic recycling that came here and we are really leading the way there,” he told WBFO after Harris spoke. “We have been working on the water issue for a long time. We, of course, [will] have a totally carbon-neutral campus by 2035.”

With California set to ban the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035, many are concerned about the potential detriments to the state’s low-income communities. Some Californians worry that the car industry will go the way of the state’s gentrified housing industry.

Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk spoke about the Inflation Reduction Act’s investments in the electric vehicle industry with WBFO following Vice President Kamala Harris’ speech at the University at Buffalo Wednesday.

Turk said the Biden administration is working to create plans for individuals of all economic backgrounds to have access to charging stations and electric vehicles. He said the administration is “building out our charging infrastructure,” and that it received $7.5 billion from last year’s bipartisan infrastructure legislation to do so. He added that there will be funding set aside for disadvantaged communities.

Turk said President Joe Biden was expected to make announcements regarding this at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit Wednesday.

The “more exciting” piece of the bill, Turk said, is the used car program. This will also allow electric vehicle buyers to receive a $4,000 tax credit, and income levels and car prices will be taken into account for the program.

Tom Dinki

/

WBFO News

As Kamala Harris spoke inside the University at Buffalo’s Center for Arts Wednesday, a few hundred students gathered outside hoping to catch a glimpse of the vice president.

After waiting, in some cases, several hours, they finally got their wish.

Harris, surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents and other law enforcement, came outside to greet students from afar at approximately 3:27 p.m.

She was brief, saying, with a smile and a wave, “I need you to leave,” before heading back inside the Center for the Arts.

It seemed to be a way to appease — and perhaps clear out — a crowd of students that began gathering around 12 p.m.

One of them was junior math major Ben Murti, who said he skipped his macroeconomics class for the chance to see the vice president.

“People on both sides of the political aisle wanting to see a very inspiring American leader,” he said of the crowd of students.

Data science graduate student Henry Dacres said a lot of his generation believes in what Harris and President Joe Biden are trying to do to combat climate change. They’re the first generation to experience the effects of climate change firsthand in their formative years, he added.

“I wish she would come out and at least wave or say something to her constituents because we really do believe in her and everything that Biden and her are putting together and their plan for the future,” he said.

And Dacres got his wish about 45 minutes later.