Biden launches billion-dollar climate work program as part of Earth Day actions
President Biden officially launched the so-called American Climate Corps, a program that is slated to "mobilize" tens of thousands of Americans for conservation and eco-friendly projects nationwide.
The president's actions on the work program come on Earth Day and are part of broader actions the White House unveiled Monday to commemorate Earth Day. In addition to the American Climate Corps announcement, the White House touted recent regulations blocking off 13 million acres of federal land from future oil drilling and revealed $7 billion in grants for mainly state-level solar projects.
"Here’s the bottom line: President Biden laid out the most ambitious land and water conservation agenda in American history," White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory told reporters during a call about the administration's Earth Day actions. "And he is delivering, already cementing a legacy as one of the nation’s strongest conservation presidents."
"The groundbreaking corps represents, yet again, a way to make accessible the economic opportunity and upside that comes with tackling the climate crisis," added White House climate adviser Ali Zaidi. "So, for young people of all backgrounds, no matter their qualification, no matter their ZIP code, there will now be pathways and positions that they can fill that help them gain the skills to succeed in the clean energy economy."
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Overall, the American Climate Corps will consist of 20,000 Americans who will work in a variety of roles combating climate change. The positions generally don't require previous experience and will be geared toward conservation, green energy and environmental justice work.
On Monday, the White House launched a new website for interested workers to apply for such roles. The site is expected to soon list 2,000 positions – such as field coordinator, forestry technician, hydrologic technician and land conservation crew member – located across 36 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico.
The White House said the overarching goal of the corps is to make it easy for any American to "find work tackling the climate crisis while gaining the skills necessary for the clean energy and climate resilience workforce of the future." It added the first class of the American Climate Corps will be deployed in June 2024.
"From day one, the president has seen the urgency of taking action on climate not just because of the situation it creates in our communities, represented in wildfires and floods and hurricanes, but also a profound sense of urgency to get American workers back in the game competing for the jobs of the future," a senior administration official told reporters.
Biden first took executive action to begin forming the government work program in September after facing pressure from progressives and environmental groups who had called for such an action. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., the two architects of the Green New Deal, had led such calls among Democratic lawmakers.
According to a senior administration official, ahead of the announcement Monday, the White House held listening sessions with Markey and Ocasio-Cortez to hear from Americans interested in the program.
But the program has faced heavy criticism from Republicans who have argued congressional action is needed to move forward with it.
In an October letter, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., and Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, expressed concern that it is unclear where funding for the program would be coming from.
"Unlike the Civilian Conservation Corps, which was implemented by President Roosevelt in response to an authorization in a law passed by Congress, the announcement of the program does not reference any legal authority giving rise to the program," they wrote.
Together, Comer and Sessions are spearheading an oversight investigation of the program.