United States: United States President Mr. Joe Biden has launched a new “climate corps” programme, a longstanding demand from environmental groups. The initiative will offer paid training to 20,000 young people in order to help them attain high-paying jobs in the fight against climate change.
The move comes after efforts to create a similar programme failed last year in the US Congress amid opposition from Republicans. “Today, we are mobilising the next generation of clean energy, conservation, and climate resilience workers,” Mr. Biden wrote on X.
The US President has promised to implement a wider transition to a clean energy economy, particularly through provisions in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Soon after taking office, Mr. Biden affirmed his commitment to the issue by appointing the first-ever cabinet-level climate envoy. Recently, the US leader renewed his call for global climate solidarity while addressing the United Nations General Assembly.
In a statement, Mr. Keanu Arpels-Josiah, a core organiser for the March to End Fossil Fuels, said the climate corps was “important.” Mr. Arpels-Josiah further called for executive action that will “directly and swiftly phase out fossil fuel expansion and production.”
“Biden clearly knows he can use his executive powers to take bolder steps on climate. It’s time he used them to stop approving oil and gas projects, phase down drilling on public lands and waters, and declare a climate emergency. That’s the action we need to end fossil fuels and protect humanity and our futures,” Mr. Arpels-Josiah added.
Another environmental group, Sunrise Movement, a leading supporter of the climate corps, called the new programme a “visionary policy.” More than 50 Democratic lawmakers also encouraged Mr. Biden to create the Climate Corps, saying in a letter that “the climate crisis demands a whole-of-government response at an unprecedented scale.”
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