The Partnership for the Civilian Climate Corps released the following statement regarding the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022:
The Partnership for the Civilian Climate Corps (CCC) is optimistic about Congress’ commitment to tackling the climate crisis with a much-needed down payment to reduce emissions, lower energy costs, and create jobs in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
Unfortunately, the 300,000 member Civilian Climate Corps, a cornerstone of the Presidential and Congressional climate agenda, was not included in the bill. We are encouraged by this down payment that will help our country reach our climate goals, including resources that prioritize environmental justice, an energy efficiency training program, and investing in clean energy technology, public lands, forests, and other conservation and mitigation projects. These Inflation Reduction Act investments need national service, AmeriCorps, and workforce training providers to serve as an accelerator and catalyst for lasting change.
In order to truly meet the urgency of this environmental and economic crisis, we need a well-trained and motivated workforce to fill jobs in emissions reduction, weatherization, conservation, community resilience, and disaster mitigation. The Civilian Climate Corps would create this necessary talent pipeline and will bolster this industry to create the future our country needs. If we are to succeed in creating more resilient communities, we must find innovative ways to engage young people and put them on pathways to good-paying jobs in the rapidly growing resilience sector. This next generation is the engine behind the climate movement and it is our responsibility to provide them opportunities to take action and pave pathways to careers to build this workforce for the future.
We applaud Congress for passing the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and ask them to commit to work with our Partnership to move the Civilian Climate Corps forward through other avenues. This bill is an important step to addressing the climate crisis and bolstering clean energy industries — now we need to focus on getting the workforce into career pipelines to fill these new jobs.
We will continue to work with congressional champions and the Biden Administration who have publicly committed to stand up the CCC and make needed improvements to AmeriCorps and Department of Labor programs to bring our vision to life.
