Harris Ends 5-Day LA Stay Focused On Clean-Energy, Reproductive Rights

LOS ANGELES, CA — Vice President Kamala Harris wrapped up her five-day stay in Los Angeles, which featured an emphasis on reproductive freedom and Southern California's "clean energy economy."

She was scheduled to arrive in Reno Nevada Tuesday afternoon for a moderated conversation with Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve and actress Rosario Dawson on the Biden administration's commitment to protecting reproductive freedom.

Her motorcade route was not publicized Tuesday morning when she was expected to fly out of LAX for Nevada. Westside residents were advised to expect possible motorcade delays.

Harris' first public appearance during the trip came Saturday when she spoke outside Los Angeles City Hall following a march for reproductive rights. It was a surprise appearance meant to rally supporters in the fight for reproductive freedom amid court rulings limiting access to abortion and medications for abortions and to treat miscarriages.

“When you attack the rights of women in America, you are attacking America,” Harris told the crowd.

She also used her trip to the Cleantech Incubator in the downtown Arts District Monday to praise efforts to ensure that workers are trained in the type of skills needed to support a "clean energy economy."

The Cleantech Incubator is a nonprofit organization designed to support clean-energy business startups and back the development of technologies supporting the industry.

Harris took a tour of the facility, focusing her discussions with LACI officials on clean energy and transportation projects, and efforts to increase access to such technologies in low-income and high-pollution communities. She also discussed the incubator's workforce training efforts for the industry.

"This is the thing that I really am so excited about when we think about this new economy we're all building, a clean-energy economy," Harris said in remarks after her tour. "We have very clear goals -- we want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we want to save this precious planet of ours, we want clean air, we want clean water, we want to invest in innovations that also will make the cost of living for families less expensive.

"But it's also about tapping into things that communities have long wanted, but these things have just not been available. So we're really doing a lot here. We're really doing a lot here."

Harris also met with entrepreneurs who have taken advantage of the incubator's services and start-up funding, while also meeting with graduates of the workforce training programs.

"It's been a huge blessing, to be able to provide better and I've learned a lot," one of those trainees, Xiomara Rios, said.

Harris said she has spoken to business representatives and workforce trainers across the country and world, and she said there needs to be a shift in the way companies seek out workers.

"I think we collectively as a community should also challenge ourselves when we are thinking about the jobs we are creating," she said. "We are creating a lot of jobs. ... I would challenge us to not just think of a title. I would challenge us to not just think of a degree, but define and advertise a job based on the skill the job requires.

"For the private sector, for the employers who are feeling challenged (wondering) `is the workforce there?' The workforce will come if they're really clear about the skills they need to develop to do the job. And so let's think a little bit more about how we are defining the jobs based on the skill, because that will also then sneak to the educators to know what they should be teaching to meet the demand and the need."

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.