Since taking office, President Biden has championed the most ambitious
climate, clean energy, conservation and environmental justice agenda in US
history — including signing into law the Inflation Reduction
Act,
the largest investment in climate action ever; protecting more than 21 million
acres of public lands and
water;
and advancing the Justice40 Initiative, which
directs 40 percent of the benefits from key federal investments to disadvantaged
communities. Now, the administration is focused on the next step: to mobilize
the next generation of clean-energy, conservation and climate-resilience
workers.
In the newest phase of his Investing in America agenda, Biden has launched the American
Climate Corps — a workforce training
and service initiative that will ensure more young people have access to the
skills-based training necessary for good-paying careers in the clean energy and
climate resilience economy. The American Climate Corps will mobilize a new,
diverse generation of more than 20,000 US young people — putting them to work
conserving and restoring our lands and waters, bolstering community resilience,
deploying clean energy, implementing energy-efficient technologies, and
advancing environmental
justice;
all while creating pathways to high-quality, good-paying clean-energy and
climate-resilience jobs in the public and private sectors after they complete
their paid training program.
Filling critical gaps
Despite the well-articulated need for prompt shifts in business strategies, prioritizing natural-resource conservation, and embracing renewable energies and technologies to ensure a livable planet, both the private and public sectors around the world have painted themselves into a corner — having made bold proclamations regarding their support for these shifts, but no substantive moves to put them into practice: On the infrastructure front, investments to make the necessary updates to the energy grid — and create a workforce capable of building and maintaining the technologies we’ll need — have been pitiful, at best. And on the business front, sustainability leaders at some of the world’s largest companies reported the scarcity of talent trained around the challenges of climate change at both operations and board level to be one of the largest barriers to achieving their net-zero targets. The launch of the American Climate Corps marks a critical step in the right direction, on both fronts.
The Corps will focus on equity and environmental justice —
prioritizing traditionally opportunity-challenged communities of color and
projects that help meet the administration’s Justice40
goal. Additionally,
Biden is calling on Tribal, State, and local governments; labor unions;
nonprofit service allies; the private sector and
philanthropy
to collaborate with the federal government to expand skills-based training
partnerships
to ensure our nation has the workforce necessary to meet our climate goals. In
fact, in conjunction with the launch of the nationwide Climate Corps, five new
states — Arizona, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina and
Utah — join California, Colorado, Maine, Michigan and
Washington in launching their own Climate Corps (for a total of 10 states
that have launched their own Climate Corps since 2021), which will work as
implementing collaborators.
Goals
The American Climate Corps will:
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Train young people in clean-energy, conservation and
climate-resilience-related skills — including, for example, restoring
coastal wetlands to protect communities from storm surges and flooding;
deploying clean
energy;
managing forests to improve health and prevent catastrophic wildfires;
implementing energy-efficient
solutions
to cut energy bills for hardworking families, and more. All American Climate
Corps programs will be paid experiences that adhere to a common set of
programmatic standards and provide pathways to high-quality employment
opportunities in the public and private sectors. No prior experience is
required for most positions. Through the American Climate Corps, federal
departments and agencies will build upon existing relationships to ensure
that all young people have the chance to participate in these opportunities.
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Coordinate recruitment across federal programs: In the coming months, to
facilitate a streamlined experience for American Climate Corps participants,
the Federal government will launch a dedicated American Climate Corps
recruitment website where participants can learn about and apply for
opportunities in their community and organizations can learn how to work
with American Climate Corps members. Moreover, to ensure Federal agencies
are working together to implement the American Climate Corps, the
Department of Labor (DOL), Department of the Interior, US
Department of Agriculture, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, Department of Energy (DOE) and AmeriCorps will
sign a memorandum of understanding to formalize this new initiative; and
AmeriCorps will stand up a new “American Climate Corps hub,” which will
support the American Climate Corps.
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Expand AmeriCorps Segal Education Awards access: The Biden
Administration is encouraging AmeriCorps CEO Michael D.
Smith to expand access
to Segal AmeriCorps Education
Awards
— which can be used by AmeriCorps members after completing their service to
pay for post-secondary education and training or to reduce their student
debt — to American Climate Corps members conducting national service work.
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Streamline pathways into civil service: The Office of Personnel
Management has issued a proposed
rulemaking
that could, if finalized, create a streamlined pathway into federal service
for federally-supported national, state, local, or Tribal service programs,
including American Climate Corps programs.
The launch of the American Climate Corps builds on nearly $500 million of
Biden-Harris Administration investments to expand pathways into good-paying
union jobs by
prioritizing
registered apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeship programs, including in clean
energy and other climate-focused careers. To continue building on this agenda,
the Administration is:
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Investing in pre-apprenticeships and registered apprenticeships through the
Department of Labor: Earlier this year, the DOL’s
YouthBuild program
awarded $90 million to
grantees —
including supporting pre-apprenticeships that will educate and train young
people in climate-focused initiatives. And the DOL supported a historic
$20M cooperative
agreement with the
TradesFutures — a nonprofit working to
develop, promote and improve apprenticeship readiness programs to advance
equitable opportunities in construction trades. TradesFutures seeks to
enroll more than 13,000 participants in pre-apprenticeship readiness
programs — giving them hands-on learning experience and skill development —
and expects to subsequently place at least 7,000 of them into registered
apprenticeships in the construction industry.
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Investing in pre-apprenticeship programs through the Department of
Energy: The DOE’s Career Skills Training
Program
has announced $10 million to provide grants to pay the federal share of
career skills-training programs under which students concurrently receive
classroom instruction and on-the-job training for the purpose of obtaining
an industry-related certification to install energy-efficient building
technologies. Additionally, this week, DOE hosted the inaugural meeting of
the 21st Century Energy Workforce Advisory Board — which is charged with
advising the Secretary of Energy in developing a strategy for the DOE to
support and develop a skilled energy workforce, including effective
education and job training for underrepresented groups and socioeconomically
disadvantaged individuals.
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Expanding national service opportunities to advance our wildfire crisis
strategy: AmeriCorps and the US Forest Service have launched the
AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) Forest
Corps
— a five-year, $15 million agreement and the first major interagency
partnership under the American Climate Corps. Beginning Summer 2024, this
program will engage 80 young adults (ages 18-26) in wildland fire
prevention,
reforestation,
and other natural and cultural resource-management projects to support the
US Forest Service’s Wildfire Crisis Strategy and Reforestation
Strategy.
Consistent with President Biden’s call for Congress to increase the
AmeriCorps living allowance, AmeriCorps NCCC Forest Corps members will
receive a compensation package equivalent to $15 an hour — including
lodging, transportation, clothing, a living allowance, health benefits and
more. Members will receive extensive training, hands-on-experience, and
leadership skills for future careers in natural-resource management, forest
health and climate resilience at the US Forest Service or other
organizations.
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Expanding the Indian Youth Service Corps: This week, the Department of
the Interior announced a $15 million commitment through President Biden’s
Investing in America agenda to expand the Indian Youth Service
Corps
and other programs supporting the next generation of conservation and
climate stewards. This effort will be facilitated in collaboration with the
Office of Strategic Partnerships, which was launched during the 2022 White
House Tribal Nations Summit to assist with building partnerships,
leveraging resources and promoting innovative solutions for Indian Country.
With funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, the Interior Department will
expand the capacity of the Corps and similar projects serving underserved
communities by 30 percent — with a goal to reach over 5,000 young people.
The expanded programs will work with federally recognized Tribes and Tribal
organizations, as well as programs serving the US territories, the Native
Hawaiian Community, and urban communities across the United States.
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Sep 22, 2023 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST