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We’re leading an all-out national mobilization to defeat the climate crisis.

Join our work today to help us build a thriving and just clean energy future. 

Evergreen Explains: How to Build the Civilian Climate Corps

UPDATE (September 20, 2023): President Biden took executive action to launch the American Climate Corps. This is a big victory for our youth, climate, jobs, and future—and something Evergreen first called Congress and President Biden to do in April 2021. The Climate Corps is an opportunity to provide training and good-paying union jobs to the next generation of clean energy workers with an emphasis on bringing along communities that have been historically underserved or left behind.


 

With the support of President Biden, now is the moment to create a new national Civilian Climate Corps (CCC). Evergreen has mapped out a detailed pathway to build a modern CCC and put Americans to work building a just and sustainable future in their communities. Congress should harness the ambition of the New Deal era and reinvigorate the American people’s faith in their government.

Corps programs are historic and proven — the idea for a modern CCC draws inspiration from the success of FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps and local corps programs across the country. And a new CCC has been gaining momentum. In 2009, then-Representative Jay Inslee successfully included a Clean Energy Service Corps in a national service bill. Then 10 years later, Inslee became the first presidential candidate to propose a nationwide climate corps. When Evergreen Action launched to take up the mantle of Governor Inslee’s “gold standard” climate plan, we worked to include a modern CCC in President Biden’s campaign platform.

Now, this plan is poised to jumpstart a climate jobs revolution. President Biden included a CCC in his infrastructure proposal, and climate leaders on Capitol Hill are working to make an expansive and impactful climate corps a reality. They have the wind at their backs: polling shows a new CCC is wildly popular. This is President Biden’s FDR moment and the Civilian Climate Corps will help him seize it.

 

A Comprehensive Plan to Build the CCC

Evergreen’s Building the Civilian Climate Corps lays out a plan to put 1.5 million Americans to work and give them the tools they need to build successful careers in the clean energy economy. It recommends that Congress build the Civilian Climate Corps in three segments:

  1. Creating a new federal employment initiative that is centralized and highly visible, similar to FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps.
  2. Supporting and re-orienting existing federal corps programs, many of which already tackle climate-related projects, with additional resources for their members.

 

A CCC Is Overwhelmingly Popular — Even With Republicans

Not only is the CCC poised to help our nation recover and rebuild from the overlapping crises of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, racial injustice, and income inequality, it’s also remarkably popular. Data for Progress found that 77% of voters support creating a Climate Corps, including 87% of Democrats and 65% of Republicans, making it one of the most popular climate policies in recent memory.

 

Building More Resilient Communities

The Civilian Climate Corps is designed to empower climate action in every corner of the country. As the CCC corpsmembers gain skills, experience, and connections, the benefits of the Corps will also extend far beyond the 1.5 million Americans employed in the program by strengthening local communities in every corner of America and building a clean economy for everyone.

Learn More about Building a Civilian Climate Corps

A new Civilian Climate Corps is uniquely positioned to jumpstart a revolutionary clean economy, preparing millions for good-paying careers while also strengthening American communities. 

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