The White House will be expanding the size of the federal government through the creation of a newly announced American Climate Corps.
The initiative was announced on Tuesday in a conference call with reporters, according to The Hill.
It seeks to hire 20,000 young people in its first year to promote green energy initiatives and land conservation.
On the call, according to CNN, White House national climate adviser Ali Zaidi said recruits for the program will be “doing the important task of conserving and restoring our lands and waters, bolstering community resilience, deploying clean energy” as well as “implementing energy efficiency technologies that will cut consumer costs for the American people, and advancing environmental justice.”
According to CBS News, the program is “modeled after” the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Depression-era job-creation program of the Roosevelt administration’s New Deal.
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However, The Hill reported, a White House participant on the conference call said that while the Civilian Conservation Corps was largely made up of white males, the Climate Corps program is committed to being “diverse.”
“This climate corps will uplift and empower a diverse and inclusive workforce,” the official said, according to The Hill.
It is unclear how much the program will cost taxpayers or who will lead it.
In a social media post published Wednesday to X, the platform formerly called Twitter, President Joe Biden announced that he had created the program through executive action.
Today, I’m taking executive action to launch the American Climate Corps – a workforce initiative that will train over 20,000 young people for good-paying jobs in the clean energy and climate resilience economy.https://t.co/PPJg1aoo2y
— President Biden (@POTUS) September 20, 2023
Naturally, far-left groups are thrilled. In an interview with The Washington Post, Varshini Prakash, co-founder of the environmental group the Sunrise Movement said the initiative would pay off for Biden with younger voters.
The Sunrise Movement was a key part of getting the radically leftist Green New Deal onto the Democratic agenda, according to a June 2019 report in Politico Magazine.
“I can’t speak on behalf of every single youth voter, but if President Biden continues to take bold climate action like this, I think it could go a long way,” Prakash told the Post. “Young people need to see more policies like this from the administration in the lead-up to the election.”
But the program met with a good deal of skepticism from Biden critics:
You would take executive action for climate corps(waste of money) but you wouldn’t take executive action at the border. Vote #Trump2024 because Joe is obviously senile. https://t.co/g8RnSy1R3t
— Make marijuana Illegal Again (@EdwardRosado17) September 20, 2023
You have no clue what you’re doing today https://t.co/7I0a7y6Y3s
— cris miller (@crismiller12) September 20, 2023
I hope the street blocking, business disrupting climate activists sign up for this……they need a job. https://t.co/eOuS5kLF0i
— CK Grammy… spectator of football (@kzleit) September 20, 2023
And just like that gas is 10 bucks a gallon https://t.co/XHeXxHs5Ct
— 714DMK (@714DMK) September 20, 2023
I hope Donald Trump gets to FIRE EVERY single one of them! https://t.co/0MbCZYTQEa
— Ultra Dark Nuclear Logic (@LogicFirst1) September 20, 2023
An application page was launched on Wednesday morning on the White House website for those seeking to become part of the newly created Climate Corps.
Applicants are told:
“The American Climate Corps will put a new generation of Americans to work conserving our lands and waters, bolstering community resilience, advancing environmental justice, deploying clean energy, implementing energy efficient technologies, and tackling climate change.
“American Climate Corps members will gain the skills necessary to access good-paying jobs that are aligned with high-quality employment opportunities after they complete their paid training or service program.”
Applicants are also prompted to check a series of boxes to gauge their interest in a number of topics, along with being asked to provide their names and contact information.
One box asks applicants if they are interested in “protecting coastal wetlands” while another one asks about an interest in the enhancement of “agricultural systems to protect natural resources.”
The application page tells interested young people that their work will “advance environmental justice.”
The page offers no explanation regarding what environmental justice is.
