New American Climate Corps offers paid job training for 20,000 youth
On Earth Day 2024 (April 22), President Biden announced the official start of his groundbreaking workforce training and service initiative that will put tens of thousands of young Americans to work fighting the impacts of climate change today while training tomorrow’s clean energy and climate-resilience workforce. Called the American Climate Corps (ACC), the program is patterned after the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the Peace Corps, and AmeriCorps. The implications and relevance for Native Americans are obvious, especially for those who live in areas of high unemployment.
“(The American Climate Corps) brings out the best in young people to do what’s best for America,” Biden said at the Earth Day event. “…We will put tens of thousands of young people to work at the forefront of our climate resilience and clean energy future.”
“Biden’s ACC is all about this idea that in every community across the country, everybody has a role to play,” said Maggie Thomas, the special assistant to the president for climate in the White House. “We need to field a full team to tackle the climate crisis. And we want to make sure that at the federal level, we’re providing jobs in communities across the country. Right now you can go to climatecorps.gov and apply; we have about 2,000 positions listed with lots and lots more on the way. It’s really exciting.”
Thomas continued, “We want to make sure that the American Climate Corps looks like America, first and foremost. We’ve got a new diverse generation of young people who want to be put to work in careers in climate, clean energy, and climate resilience. We want to make sure that we’re giving them the opportunity to do that, and the tools to succeed in the workforce of the future.”
According to an ACC Fact Sheet published on September 20, 2023 (www.acc.gov/posts/2023-09-20-fact-sheet/), “The American Climate Corps will mobilize a new, diverse generation of more than 20,000 Americans – 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.
“…President 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. …
“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.
“The American Climate Corps (ACC) will empower a new, diverse generation to tackle two of the greatest challenges of our time: environmental injustice and climate change. We are creating a world in which individuals are equipped with the career training and hands-on skills to make change — change we can breathe, see, feel, and touch. And where together, we have the power to reimagine and reorient the course of our lives, our communities, our country, and our planet.
“We are the generation building the just and resilient world we want to live in. …”
The Fact Sheet also lists the following benefits of joining the ACC:
– Get paid to tackle the climate crisis through part-time or full-time opportunity.
– Launch your career on a path to high-quality, good-paying opportunities in the public and private sectors.
– Access training that will help you gain skills and knowledge for a career in the clean energy and climate-resilience economy.
– Serve in an opportunity that is term limited.
Some opportunities will offer:
– A Segal AmeriCorps Education Award, worth up to $7,395 this year, can be used to pay for post-secondary education and training or to reduce student debt upon completion of an eligible ACC opportunity.
– Access to a streamlined pathway into federal service, either immediately upon completion of a single term, or through completion of multiple terms of service.
– Opportunity-specific training opportunities to prepare you for your time as a member of the ACC.
– Healthcare, childcare, transportation, housing and more.
Opportunities are available in several types of organizations including federal agencies; state, local, and Tribal governments; non-profits; and state-based climate corps. The website www.acc.gov lists the following sample projects ACC members will work on:
- Protect America’s public lands and waters for future generations
- Weatherize homes and public buildings
- Conduct energy audits to save hard-working families money on their energy bills
- Advance environmental justice to ensure all Americans can live in healthy, thriving communities
- Deploy nature-based solutions and expand the use of traditional ecological knowledge to help communities prepare for climate impacts
- Support communities in historical and cultural heritage preservation efforts
- Enhance agricultural systems to protect natural resources and conserve water during droughts
- Create and maintain community gardens to increase access to fresh and healthy food
- Build local food systems by establishing and supporting farm to table and farmers’ market initiatives
- Support the health and sustainability of community-based organizations through grant writing or fundraising
- Manage outreach to communities by recruiting and engaging local volunteers
- Conduct environmental research
Thomas noted, “All the positions in the American Climate Corps are term limited, which means they are likely going to be a summer-term position, perhaps up to a year. Some of the positions may get extended, and that’s sort of up to the American Climate Corps member and their project host, of course. These are not permanent jobs, but they are giving young people an opportunity to be put on a pathway to permanent jobs.”
“All you have to do is go to climatecorps.gov, look for a position that is exciting to you and apply directly through the site,” Thomas emphasized, “The first class of the American Climate Corps will be deployed in June this year. And the website will be live and rolling and taking applications for all of the positions that we’re recruiting for over the course of the next several weeks and months.”
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SOURCES:
www.acc.gov/posts/2023-09-20-fact-sheet/
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May 16, 2024