Sen. Markey: An Expanded American Climate Corps Wins With Voters, Creates Jobs, and Fights Climate Change
By Senator Ed Markey
Over the past few years, Congress has passed billions of dollars for climate projects through the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act — record levels of funding that will spur trillions in investment in clean energy and climate action.
Now, we need a trained workforce that can turn proposals into projects, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and deliver for communities. That’s why in September President Joe Biden launched the historic American Climate Corps, which will create 20,000 skills-based job opportunities for young people to help combat climate disaster.
The new American Climate Corps is a major step in the fight for our nation’s future and for a Green New Deal. In fact, it is already extremely popular — and oversubscribed. New polling from Data for Progress finds that the American Climate Corps is overwhelmingly popular across age and political party, and supported by 71 percent of voters — including more than half of Republicans. The support grows even stronger among voters under the age of 59.
In the first few weeks of the program’s launch, more than 42,000 people expressed interest in the 20,000 slots. With Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, I reintroduced in 2023 the Civilian Climate Corps for Jobs and Justice Act, which would train and support 1.5 million Americans with good-paying climate corps jobs, with a wage equivalent of $17 per hour and full health care, child care, and other wrap-around benefits. Polling also shows extremely strong support for a comprehensive, fully funded program, which would help communities across the nation respond to climate change and transition to a clean energy economy while prioritizing educational funding, career opportunities, and environmental justice.
Right before the American Climate Corps was announced, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and I led more than 50 members of Congress in calling on President Biden to create a climate corps through executive action. More than 50 organizations joined that call. When the American Climate Corps was announced, I was proud to stand with young changemakers to applaud President Biden’s work and continue to call for more.
I believe a large and robust climate corps is integral to delivering the Green New Deal values of jobs, justice, and climate action. While 20,000 American Climate Corps members may be a far cry from the 1.5 million climate corps positions that would be created through my Civilian Climate Corps for Jobs and Justice Act, the program will still undoubtedly change lives and communities for the better. This is an important first start as this program gets up and running — as a comparison, the Peace Corps, which is a world-renowned program to promote peace and friendship through grassroots work, is less than half the size of the Biden-Harris administration’s current target for the American Climate Corps.
As the Biden administration works to implement the American Climate Corps, I will continue to fight for more funding and urge that all participating agencies prioritize the pillars of the Green New Deal and the Civilian Climate Corps for Jobs and Justice Act in four key ways:
First, we need a whole-of-government approach with additional partner agencies and states in order to strengthen the centralized executive leadership. Already, the American Climate Corps has benefited from the addition of the Environmental Protection Agency in the latest announcement from the White House, and other partnerships — such as with the Department of Transportation and the Federal Emergency Management Agency — would only bolster climate opportunities. These agencies should find ways to build opportunities for American Climate Corps members into their programs. Additionally, while the American Climate Corps is already working with 10 state climate corps, other states must be supported as they build climate corps programs.
Second, in Congress, we need to keep fighting for additional long-term funding, which will be critical to ensure new positions are created so more individuals can participate in the program and earn a full living wage with good benefits. Polling already shows that earning a living wage with benefits is the highest priority for potential corps members, along with protecting the environment for future generations.
Third, the Biden administration needs to enable disadvantaged communities to both participate in the program and receive the benefits of projects. This can only happen through dialogue and direct collaboration with local communities, as well as setting, measuring, and tracking progress toward environmental justice goals.
Finally, the American Climate Corps must prioritize pathways to good-paying union jobs. This means supporting pre-apprenticeship programs, upholding non-displacement policies, and establishing career ladders in partnership with unions. This will ensure the American Climate Corps complements, rather than competes with, union labor.
Voters — and younger voters in particular — have made clear they support the American Climate Corps and are particularly supportive of bolstering it with a fully funded and functional program like the Civilian Climate Corps. Together, we can take an invaluable step toward the vision of a full civilian climate corps and create clean energy and climate job opportunities for a new generation of Americans.
I am excited to be part of the launch of the American Climate Corps listening sessions throughout January, which will provide clarity, transparency, and an opportunity for interested participants to share their priorities. The time is now to deliver on climate action with equity, jobs, and justice at the center. Especially in the wake of Republican proposals to slash the American Climate Corps, we must prove to the American people, and to the rest of the world, that we are serious about climate action and good-paying jobs, and that the two go hand in hand.
Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) is a U.S. senator from Massachusetts and a co-author of the Green New Deal.