Climate Corps Could Open Doors to Job Opportunities in Appalachian PA - bctv.org
Climate Corps Could Open Doors to Job Opportunities in Appalachian PA - BCTV
The American Climate Corps seeks to create 20,000 jobs related to conservation, climate issues, and clean energy.
The program originated by the Biden administration is still being developed, but organizations in Appalachia believe it could provide many young people in the area with good-paying employment opportunities.
Kayleigh Del Cotto is the director of strategic partnerships for LandForce, an employment social enterprise nonprofit organization combining workforce development with environmental stewardship. She said the organization is unique in its ability to pay wages during all phases of transitional employment, including training people 18 and older.
“Over the last eight years, 52% of our crew members have fallen very neatly within the age range of the American Climate Corps,” Del Cotto reported. “Given a recent expansion that we’re going through, we can now have two cohorts. So, we will naturally be able to start hiring a second crew in June.”
Del Cotto noted the initiative offers job opportunities to marginalized individuals who have traditionally faced barriers to employment. While providing them with the necessary skills and support systems “to step into their power” and attain long-term sustainable jobs to support their families.
Annie Regan, director of digital communications for ReImagine Appalachia, said not only could the initiative bring jobs to a region hard-hit by the opioid crisis and unemployment, but participants will also receive paid training, opening the doors to opportunities for employment in both the public and private sectors.
“We’re seeing similar trends in today’s economy with folks not being able to find jobs, climate change, exasperating our impacts,” Regan acknowledged. “Of course, we want younger folks to have these jobs, too, and to have pathways to apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs and working with our unions.”
The Climate Corps is modeled after the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Depression-era program launched by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to alleviate high unemployment among young men. The White House said the Climate Corps aims to attract individuals from diverse backgrounds and disadvantaged communities to work in climate-related sectors.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”