Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced Energy Communities AmeriCorps, a new project that will engage 150 full-time AmeriCorps VISTA members in advancing locally designed economic development, workforce readiness and environmental remediation plans in energy communities as they gain skills and experience for good paying clean energy and climate resilience jobs.
Building on the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to support coal communities, this innovative public-private partnership will invest nearly $8 million from federal agencies and philanthropic sources to help ensure a more just and prosperous future for the men and women who fueled our nation’s growth.
This new program is part of President Biden’s landmark 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 fighting the impacts of climate change today while gaining the skills they need to join the growing clean energy and climate-resilience workforce of tomorrow. Following the inaugural cohort’s swearing-in last month, AmeriCorps estimates more than 9,000 American Climate Corps members — nearly halfway to President Biden’s goal of 20,000 members in year one — are already serving across the country, going to work conserving and restoring our lands and waters, bolstering 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 recruiting now for positions starting 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 Southeast Montana. More information and links to apply can be found stewardslegacy.org/ecap.
“Energy Communities AmeriCorps — like the Working Lands Climate Corps and AmeriCorps NCCC Forest Corps partnerships we launched this year — are examples of the kinds of creative partnerships we are building as part of the American Climate Corps that will mark a new era of youth-powered climate action in America,” said Michael D. Smith, CEO, AmeriCorps. “I encourage anyone interested to visit the ClimateCorps.gov to apply for available opportunities.”
AmeriCorps VISTA members will serve on projects that build the sustainable capacity of nonprofits, public agencies, local economic development districts and other organizations to support economic development, workforce readiness and remediation of legacy pollution in energy communities. Serving through local host organizations, members will carry out activities such as conducting community needs assessments, organizing public meetings, grant writing, outreach on tax credits and other resources to support economic development, educating residents about public health and safety hazards associated with abandoned mine lands, increasing public awareness about training and employment opportunities and more.
“Energy communities have powered this nation for generations — and now, under President Biden’s leadership, we are driving new investments to support their economic revitalization and create new, good-paying jobs that will restore former coal lands, strengthen American supply chains, and help transition to a clean energy economy,” said White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi. “Central to these efforts are putting young people to work in these communities — and that’s exactly what this new Energy Communities AmeriCorps program will do. Through this American Climate Corps effort, we are positioning America’s next generation to tackle longstanding environmental challenges, advance environmental justice, and build America’s clean energy future.”
AmeriCorps developed the Energy Communities AmeriCorps project in partnership 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 spur economic revitalization, remediate environmental degradation 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 imminent economic downturns from coal mine and power plant closures. AmeriCorps VISTA members will work closely with these Rapid Response Teams and local government, business, and nonprofit stakeholders 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 Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, and the Appalachian Regional Commission, with additional funding 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 injustices,” said Acting Deputy Secretary of the Interior Laura Daniel-Davis. “With the new Energy Communities AmeriCorps, we are doubling down on these efforts, creating good-paying jobs and cleaning up environmental hazards.”
Consistent with the Administration’s goal of ensuring American Climate Corps opportunities are accessible to people of any socio-economic background, members will receive a living wage of $15.51 or more depending on their location and a comprehensive set of benefits including health care, childcare, Segal AmeriCorps Education Award (currently $7,395) or a cash award after service, student loan forbearance and interest repayment, relocation expenses, training and professional development and non-competitive eligibility for federal service.
The project will be led by Conservation Legacy, a longstanding AmeriCorps partner with extensive experience working 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 in 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 acres 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. The members will live and serve in the community — helping coal communities attract and retain the talent they need to support their economic development goals.
News item from AmeriCorps
