Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced Energy Communities AmeriCorps, a new project that will engage 150 full-time AmeriCorps VISTA members to advance locally designed economic development, workforce readiness, and environmental remediation plans in energy communities while gaining skills and experience at good pay . jobs in clean energy and climate resilience.
Building on the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to supporting coal communities, this innovative public-private partnership will invest nearly $8 million from federal agencies and philanthropic sources to help ensure a more equitable and prosperous future for the people of the world that have fueled the growth of our nation.
This new program is part of President Biden’s historic American Climate Corps – a groundbreaking initiative modeled after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps that will put a new, diverse generation of young Americans to work tackling the impacts of climate change on today while acquiring the skills they need. must join the growing clean energy and climate resilience workforce of tomorrow. After swearing in its first cohort last month, AmeriCorps estimates that more than 9,000 members of the U.S. Climate Corps—nearly halfway to President Biden’s goal of 20,000 members in its first year—are already operating across the country and committed to conservation and restoration of our lands and waters. , strengthening community resilience, deploying clean energy, implementing energy efficient technologies, advancing environmental justice and more.
AmeriCorps and the Energy Communities AmeriCorps project sponsor Conservation Legacy are now recruiting for positions beginning in October in nine federally designated energy communities in Appalachian Ohio, Eastern Kentucky, Illinois Coal Basin, Four Corners region, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wyoming, Virginia and Southeastern Montana. More information and links to apply can be found at stewardslegacy.org/ecap.
“AmeriCorps energy communities – like the Working Lands Climate Corps and AmeriCorps NCCC Forest Corps partnerships we launched this year – are examples of the kind of creative partnerships we are building as part of the American Climate Corps that are driving a new era of youth-driven climate action in America,” said Michael D. Smith, CEO of AmeriCorps. “I encourage anyone who is interested to… ClimateCorps.gov to apply for available opportunities.”
AmeriCorps VISTA members will contribute to projects that build the sustainable capacity of nonprofits, government agencies, local economic development districts, and other organizations to support economic development, workforce readiness, and historic pollution remediation in energy communities. Through local host organizations, members will conduct activities such as conducting community needs assessments, organizing public meetings, writing grants, providing tax credits and other resources to support economic development, educating residents about the public health and safety hazards associated with abandoned mining areas. , increasing public awareness of training and employment opportunities and more.
“Energy communities have powered this nation for generations – and now, under President Biden’s leadership, we are encouraging new investments to support their economic revitalization and create new, good-paying jobs that will restore former coalfields, strengthen America’s supply chains, and help transition to a clean energy economy,” said Ali Zaidi, White House National Climate Advisor. “Central to these efforts is putting young people to work in these communities – and that’s exactly what this new Energy Communities AmeriCorps program will do. Through this U.S. Climate Corps effort, we are positioning America’s next generation to address long-standing environmental challenges, advance environmental justice, and build America’s clean energy future.”
AmeriCorps developed the Energy Communities AmeriCorps project in collaboration with the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization (Energy Communities IWG), which serves as a hub for federal coordination and stakeholder engagement to drive economic revitalization, reduce the degradation of restore the environment and support energy workers in coal, oil and gas, and power plant communities across the country. The Energy Communities IWG has launched Rapid Response Teams to align federal resources in communities experiencing recent or threatened economic downturns due to coal mine and power plant closures. AmeriCorps VISTA members will work closely with these Rapid Response Teams and local governments, businesses and nonprofits in each energy community.
Energy Communities AmeriCorps will be funded through a unique multi-agency public-private partnership, with support from three members of the Energy Communities IWG – the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, the Economic Development Administration Department of Commerce and the Appalachian Regional Commission, with additional financial support from Bloomberg Philanthropies.
“With unprecedented funding from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the Department of the Interior is investing in communities that have long suffered the disproportionate and cumulative harms of environmental injustice,” said Acting Deputy Secretary of the Interior Laura Daniel-Davis. “With the new Energy Communities AmeriCorps, we are redoubling these efforts, creating good-paying jobs and cleaning up environmental hazards.”
In keeping with the Administration’s goal of ensuring that U.S. Climate Corps opportunities are accessible to people of all socio-economic backgrounds, members will receive a living wage of $15.51 or more depending on their location, and a comprehensive range of benefits including health care, child care, Segal AmeriCorps Education Award (currently $7,395) or an after-service cash award, student loan deferment and interest payments, relocation expenses, training and professional development, and non-competitive eligibility for federal service.
The project will be led by Conservation Legacy, a long-standing AmeriCorps partner with extensive experience in coal communities. Over the past 22 years, Conservation Legacy has engaged more than 1,200 VISTA members in supporting economic development and environmental revitalization in coal communities throughout Appalachia and the Intermountain West. These members have secured $41 million in grants and in-kind resources, recruited 100,000 volunteers, trained 16,000 community members in water quality monitoring, and improved 3.2 million hectares of land.
Conservation Legacy will work with local host sites in each energy community to recruit and select VISTA members, prioritizing the recruitment of displaced energy workers or their family members. Members will live and serve in the community, helping coal communities attract and retain the talent they need to support their economic development goals.
AmeriCorps news release