Dive Brief:

• President Joe Biden is taking executive action to create a workforce training and service initiative to “put to work” 20,000 Americans in conservation and clean energy jobs, with a coordinating agreement between federal agencies, the White House announced Wednesday.
• The action comes as the clean energy industry is experiencing labor shortages and manufacturers and developers look to take advantage of billions in tax credits offered by the Inflation Reduction Act.
• Rob Thornton, president and CEO of the International District Energy Association, said in an interview that the plan “harkens back” to the New Deal, and that the program will “create more pathways” for people to participate in the energy industry.

Dive Insight:

“All American Climate Corps programs will be paid experiences that adhere to a common set of programmatic standards, and provide pathways to high-quality employment opportunities in the public and private sectors,” the White House said in a release. “No prior experience is required for most positions.”

The U.S. Department of Labor, Department of the Interior, Department of Agriculture, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Energy and AmeriCorps will all sign a memorandum of understanding, the White House said. In addition, AmeriCorps will create a new hub to support the American Climate Corps.

Biden is also “encouraging” the CEO of AmeriCorps — an independent agency that facilitates stipended volunteer work — to consider expanding access to the Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards to the new initiative’s members, which would give them access to funds they could use to pay for additional education or reduce student debt.

“It feels like this could create more clarity for young people that the clean energy industry is a growing sector where they can build skills, grow their career, make a living, support a family, pay off debt,” Thornton said. “We’re very much in favor of it — the industry needs talent and resources.”

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