We’re Hoping Biden’s Climate Corps Can Live Up to the Success of the Original Conservation Corps
It worked for FDR.
It seems like the Biden Administration’s Climate Corps is finally coming into being. Back during his first week in office, Joe Biden signed an executive order to create a civilian corp focused on environmental causes. This week, the White House launched a portal for people to sign up for the program. What has been a dream for years may actually be happening. Biden’s team worked closely with environmental activism groups, like the Sunrise Movement, to build an impactful program.
The American Climate Corps’ aim will be two-fold: employing Americans in good jobs and helping reverse the adverse effects of climate change. It’s truly something that is good for the entire county. Yet, the original vision of the program had to be pared down so the Senate could pass funding for it in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Even so, the program can still be impactful, just like its predecessor, the Citizen Conservation Corps.
What is the Conservation Corps?
Biden’s American Climate Corps is based on FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps. During the Great Depression, unemployment was at an all-time high. One of the many social programs FDR implemented in his New Deal package was the CCC. The idea of the CCC was to put people to work and get money flowing through the economy. More than that, the CCC would help revitalize the infrastructure and landscape of the country.
The CCC made structural improvements, built bridges and roads, maintained forests, cultivated wildlife, and controlled erosion. Participants were required to do six months with the CCC and could sign on for more. They were paid well, with a bonus amount sent home to struggling families, and they often stayed together in camps.
The CCC was a highly successful program and employed 3 million people across the United States. There are still places around the country with plaques saying the CCC built a bridge or road, and its legacy lives on in state-led conservation corps and youth groups. Now, the American Conservation Corps is hoping to emulate that success.
Although it may not be the scope some had planned, ACC can still make a big impact. The ACC shifts focus from mainly rural areas to any areas severely affected by climate change. Also, instead of employing mostly white (there were some segregated units) men between 18-25, the Climate Corps aims to employ 20,000 diverse young adults in its first year. The differences in focus and civilian involvement might be enough to make the program even better than the ones that came before. We deserve a win.
(via NPR, featured image: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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