The Biden administration launched a new program called the American Climate Corps to train young people in clean energy, conservation, and climate resilience skills. The New Deal-style program is a major green jobs training project.
According to the White House, in its first year, the American Climate Corps will put more than 20,000 young people on career pathways in the fields of clean energy, conservation and climate resilience.
“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,” Ali Zaidi, the White House national climate adviser, said.
The new program 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,” according to a press release.
“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 …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,” 50 members of Congress said in a letter to President Biden.
The American Climate Corps will:
- Train young people in clean energy, conservation and climate resilience related skills
- Coordinate recruitment across federal programs
- Expand AmeriCorps Segal Education awards access
- Streamline pathways into civil service
- Leverage tribal, state and local governments
As part of the Biden administration’s commitment to tackle the climate crisis, the American Climate Corps is a “promise” to mobilize the next generation of clean energy, conservation and resilience workers.
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