White House Launches American Climate Corps
How do you feel about the American Climate Corps?
What's the story?
- On Wednesday, the Biden Administration unveiled the American Climate Corps, a New Deal-style program that will act as a major green jobs training project.
- The White House announced that the program will employ 20,000 young adults to learn how to work in wind and solar production, disaster preparedness, land conservation, and more environmental focuses.
- The initiative is modeled after President Franklin D Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps, created in the 1930s as part of the New Deal.
The program details
- The program will pay participants and entails many positions that won't require previous experience. Many organizations will participate in the building of the corps, including the Labor, Interior, Agriculture, and Energy Departments, AmeriCorps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.
- The idea began with progressive environmental groups, like the youth-led Sunrise Movement. During Biden's first week of office, he issued an executive order calling for the establishment of a "civilian climate corps."
- According to Ali Zaidi, the White House national climate adviser, a recruitment website will be up and running within the next few months.
What they're saying
- In recent weeks, Democrats and environmental advocates have been pushing Biden to issue an executive order authorizing the American Climate Corps. 50 members of Congress wrote a letter to Biden this week, saying:
"With deadly heat, dangerous floods, rising seas, and devastating wildfires — including those that ravaged Maui last month — the climate crisis demands a whole-of-government response at an unprecedented scale."
- The lawmakers continued, saying the federal climate corps would:
"...prepare a whole generation of workers for good-paying union jobs in the clean economy…fight climate change, build community resilience and support environmental justice."
- When announcing the program, Zaidi said:
"We're opening up pathways to good-paying careers, lifetimes of being involved in the work of making our communities more fair, more sustainable, more resilient."
- Republicans have largely dismissed the Climate Corps proposal, believing it's a waste of money and would take jobs away from workers displaced by the pandemic. Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) expressed his opposition to the program in 2021, saying:
"We don't need another FDR program, and the idea that this is going to help land management is a false idea as well."
How do you feel about the American Climate Corps?
-Jamie Epstein
(Photo Credit: AmeriCorps)
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Great way to get young people working, gain experience and pay back student loans while helping the country since the latest Federal Reserve Reports shows employment for 20-24 year old college educated has not bounced back after the pandemic like other age groups.
Challenge will be funding since the Republican controlled House can't seem to pass a budget much less new legislation but there is a plan B to use existing programs in 6 agencies (Labor, Interior, Agriculture and Energy departments, NOAA, AmeriCorps).
"Markey and Ocasio-Cortez have introduced legislationthat would authorize $132.5 billion over five years to create and sustain a Civilian Climate Corps. Funding a sweeping new program is more complicated in the absence of legislation."
"As part of the executive branch effort, the White House announced that six federal agencies will sign a memorandum of understanding to formalize the effort. Those agencies are the Labor, Interior, Agriculture and Energy departments, NOAA and AmeriCorps."
"Those agencies have existing programs and resources, Zaidi said, which can be paired with resources from the private sector, state and local governments, and philanthropists."
"We find that people ages 20–24 and those over 55 have been less likely to return to the workforce as the pandemic has weakened. Nominal wages have rapidly recovered for younger individuals 16–24 years old but have slowed for older workers, possibly due to the contraction of the college wage premium—the wage boost from earning a college degree—and faster wage growth among lower-income workers."
https://www.dallasfed.org/cd/communities/2023/2306
https://www.nber.org/papers/w31010
https://www.eenews.net/articles/biden-launches-american-climate-corps/
I think this is a good start on a project that should have been already working if we are to deal with the problem.
The White House announces the creation of the climate corps while showing a picture of the existing California conservation corps that governor Jerry Brown, a democrat, supported and funded. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, once again, supported them and visited their work sites in Firebaugh, California when they sandbagged levees to prevent major flooding of that community. It is an excellent idea and it's one that the state of California has continually carried out here. I wholeheartedly support the notion of conservation and teaching these young people who go through the programs about advancements in technology that support and sustain our environment.
I think it's a good idea, and I think the intent is there, which is the best I can say while The GOP allows Big Corporations to do whatever they want, no matter what the destruction is doing to our planet.
Government is the most wasteful inefficient way to accomplish anything. And unfortunately politicians have great success selling this kind of crap to the public. What possible reason is there to justify expansion of such waste?
"The initiative will provide job training and service opportunities to work on a wide range of projects that tackle the climate crisis, including restoring coastal wetlands to protect communities from storm surges and flooding; deploying clean energy projects such as wind and solar power; managing forests to improve health and prevent catastrophic wildfires; and implementing energy efficient solutions to cut energy bills for consumers, the White House said."
This is step in the right direction! And, it looks like some states have similar projects underway! This is exciting news. I can't wait to see more investment in our environment.
It's the type of old time propaganda we need to get people to understand that everyone must work together to save our livable planet or we will lose it...
This is especially true for those of us living in the First World because we are the ones who have contributed the most to destroying it.
Been wondering why this project hasn't been implimented. There are still remnants of the old "CC" Camps in the area in which I live. A smart move by FDR back in the day. Worked back then should work now or better yet, YESTERDAY and should have been up graded. Just do me a favor please, keep big money and large corporations out of the loop as they will destroy the first chance they get.
What a waste of tax money. Why don't they spend some of that on securing our borders and reopening our petroleum industry. What a crazy idea!
Young people are faced with dealing with the mess we're leaving as our legacy. They need to be given the tools to work with and possibly stall or reroute the destruction that climate change leaves in its wake. I am very hopeful for this new program!
Excellent! Thank you President Biden!
Excellant!
Lets keep after the buisnesses/corporations who participated in the problem, increase their taxes and or fine them.
Just another money wasting group to work on a money wasting problem that's questionable at best.
This may be only a sliver of the solution to the climate crisis, so there are ways it can go wrong, but any REAL action is a step in the right direction, as is getting more people more motivated.
this is a good start towards getting people involved in environmental protection, but until we can hold the corporations accountable for the destruction they have already done, and profited from, it falls short.
One small but necessary step...
It is what is needed for what lies ahead. I am excited that Biden took this step sending a signal that climate change is real.
Great idea on several levels .
Training young people for the jobs of the future is win/win.
We have a clear and growing climate crisis situation, and most of the government is NOT addressing it well. IT is good to see that this administration wants to do more to address the issue. Now if only the US Congress could get out of gridlock and DO THE JOB!
the government is already too big and spending money we don't have.
This is an excellent, much needed initiative
This is good start im glad President Biden is listening to the climate protesters in NYC this past Sunday we need to face out fossil fuels since I don't want our country to be like China and India which has the worst air quality