A Civilian Climate Corps Is Broadly Popular
By Abby Springs
On April 5, 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed an executive order establishing the Civilian Conservation Corps, enlisting over 3 million young men to conserve America’s public lands. Ninety years later, President Biden has a chance to continue the legacy of the New Deal with a Civilian Climate Corps — a modern public program that could preserve our public lands, promote environmental justice, and build our nation’s resilience to climate change as we transition to a clean energy economy.
The Civilian Climate Corps would provide thousands of young Americans with good-paying jobs to address the impacts of climate change, from installing solar panels on government buildings to managing forests in states prone to wildfires. And unlike the CCC of the 1930s, the Civilian Climate Corps would be diverse, bringing in workers from the underserved communities most impacted by climate change.
New polling from Data for Progress finds that voters support the creation of a Civilian Climate Corps by a +39-point margin, including 88 percent of Democrats, 60 percent of Independents, and a plurality of Republicans. Additionally, we find that voters under 45 support establishing a Civilian Climate Corps by a +51-point margin, reflecting young Americans’ bipartisan concern about the impact of climate change on their communities.
With a split Congress and unlikely odds that the House of Representatives would consider passing a new bill on climate in the next two years, proponents of the CCC have turned their attention to executive action as a potential path forward. Although Biden signed an executive order in 2021 to develop a plan for a Civilian Climate Corps, funding for the program was excluded from the Inflation Reduction Act, leaving the CCC proposal treading water.
Data for Progress finds that a majority of likely voters (52 percent) support Biden using an executive order to establish a CCC after hearing arguments for and against the strategy. Additionally, 83 percent of Democrats and 48 percent of Independents back the establishment of a CCC via executive order, reflecting little reduction of support among Biden’s key constituencies.
We continue to find strong support from young voters for a Civilian Climate Corps — 58 percent of voters under 45 support using executive action to create the CCC. As the 2022 midterms showed, youth voters remain a key part of the Democratic coalition and can help deliver historic victories against the right. President Biden should continue to mobilize young people with popular policies that support their well-being and growth.
In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps helped millions of young men recover from the Great Depression, providing job opportunities and preserving our natural environment for the public good. Today, 4.6 million young people are neither enrolled in school nor participating in the labor market as our nation emerges from a historic pandemic. A modern Civilian Climate Corps could give many of them the dignity and support they deserve — all while protecting our planet and building a cleaner future for all.
Abby Springs (@abby_springs) is the Press Assistant at Data for Progress.