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:
- Funding a new grant program to support climate-related projects in local corp organizations.
- Creating a new federal employment initiative that is centralized and highly visible, similar to FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps.
- Supporting and re-orienting existing federal corps programs, many of which already tackle climate-related projects, with additional resources for their members.
The report details mechanisms to ensure that all programs receiving federal climate corps funding would provide living wages and substantial benefits for corpsmembers, ensure equitable recruitment practices, conduct training for good-paying careers, ensure that frontline communities and historically underserved populations are prioritized, and offer a pathway to union membership wherever possible. We also recommend the establishment of a Green Careers Network to build pathways to long-term careers in climate-related fields, and a Climate Workforce Council to oversee these programs.
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.
After decades of erosion of public trust in our institutions, we can return to bold, ambitious governance with broad bipartisan support.
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.
The CCC would tackle a wide range of projects building local resilience, mitigating carbon pollution, and more. Corpsmembers in coastal communities might restore wetlands to buffer against hurricanes, while others out west clear dead brush and fight wildfires. Corpsmembers could organize their own neighbors to develop a community solar program, then install the panels that would cut utility bills for dozens of households. Corpsmembers in cities could build out bike lanes for sustainable transit, remediate toxic pollution in disinvested neighborhoods, plant street trees to keep city blocks cool in the summer, and handle a host of other projects that would build safer, more resilient communities.
Americans are ready to build our clean energy future, and a modern CCC that invests in our workforce and our communities can help them get it done. With widespread public support and the pathway to get it done, a modern Civilian Climate Corps can help Joe Biden lead an equitable workforce mobilization at a scale unseen in 90 years.
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.
