Vice President Kamala Harris Speaks at UB

Greetings!

Thank you for joining us in welcoming Vice President Kamala Harris to UB.

The start of the academic year is always an exciting time. Of course, the vice president’s visit makes it doubly so!

It is an honor to have Vice President Harris here to discuss the administration’s investments in climate solutions.

At UB, our environmental leadership dates back to the 1970s, during the public health crisis at Love Canal. To this day, we continue to bring our expertise to bear on the complex challenge of climate change. We are tackling it through our research, our academic excellence and our engagement with the world.

At UB’s RENEW Institute, and across campus, our faculty are studying pressing issues like rising sea levels, waste reduction, water scarcity, energy and food systems, to name a few.

At the same time, we are cultivating the next generation of innovators through academic programs in sustainability leadership, sustainable design, environmental engineering and materials design.

Our stewardship also extends to our on-campus practices from our “green” buildings, to our bike share program, to our solar array strands, which offset the energy usage of 2,000 homes a year. As a result, we are well ahead of schedule to achieve carbon neutrality by the year 2030.

UB is widely recognized as a leader in this domain. This year, the Times/Higher Education Impact Rankings ranked UB second of all U.S. universities for climate action.

I know we are looking forward to hearing from Vice President Harris about the Inflation Reduction Act’s measures to combat the climate crisis and improve energy security.

As a university community, UB is deeply committed to developing solutions for a brighter, sustainable future.

Thank you!