On Wednesday, President Biden used his executive authority to create the American Climate Corps,

which will

Employ and train 20,000 young people in climate resilience work.

Similar to, but more modest than, that

famous CCC the

Civilian Conservation Corps founded by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 during World War II

G

eat

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expression of the ACC

can

equip young people with long-term job skills while accelerating the country’s transition to renewable energy.

Biden had hoped that an updated, climate-focused version of FDR’s corps would be a provision in the Build Back Better legislative effort he introduced early in his term. That agenda was watered down, with the Climate Corps among the losses. Republicans and some Democrats, most notably Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), called it a waste of money and pure socialist wish fulfillment.

However, the Corps’ enemies never doubted that it would be effective. That’s because California proved the value of a modern CCC years ago.

The California Conservation Corps, established in 1976 by then-Gov. Jerry Brown, has a current roster of 1,634 members,

Usually between 18 and 29 years old

, which typically serve for about a year. They participate in the frontline battles against forest fires and floods required by the climate, restore river habitat, manage forests, build and maintain wilderness trails

,

and equipping homes, schools and businesses with solar panels and other forms of clean energy through state contracts.

The force compares its performance against a series of statistics. For example, since its inception, members have planted 24.6 million trees, improved national and state parks at a cost of 11 million hours of work, and filled more than 3.5 million in sand.

sink during floods and storms.

The payoff was good for California, but also personal. If new corps members

I made these 2 words here and later; not in dictionary/donr

they don’t have a high school diploma (about 15% to 20% don’t), they have to get one through the company

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partnerships between schools. That training adds 10 hours to their 40-hour work week and opens up new opportunities for more training and scholarships. Alumni of the California Conservation Corps have become professional firefighters, hydrologists, electricians and park rangers.

In recent years

I’ve seen the corps crews attack

DICTIONARY SAYS TWO WORDS BUT IT SEEM FUNNY chainsaws

to burn “hazard trees” in a state park east of Lake Tahoe, clear roadblocks during a storm and cut the fire line

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led by Cal Fire in Butte County.

One of the chain

–

saw crew

members

Elizabeth Wing, who was 21 when we met, summed up her experience by joking: “We’re confident we’ll deliver on the promise.” She was referring to the guarantee in the Corps motto: hard work, low pay, miserable circumstances, and more! The ‘more’ in the motto works differently for every corps member.

I drifted from job to job wanting to be part of something bigger than myself, 26-year-old firefighter Luie Valez recalled. I haven’t looked back since.

“I’ve had a lot of crappy jobs, but not this one,” agreed Martin Castellon, who grew up in Tijuana and San Diego and spent his 26th birthday shoveling snow for the corps at the residential center in Tahoe.

The point is, they’re not a bunch of troubled kids as many people think, says John Alviso, 24, also a firefighter and former Army reservist. They are people who want to learn and have a career and are willing to work hard for that.

Bruce Saito, the director of the California corps, expects his organization and more than 150 similar organizations across the country to “benefit from Biden’s incredible move and action.”

He anticipates

“committed grants to each state to strengthen and advance the work, [and] opportunities for enrollment services for thousands of young people to engage and address climate issues, not just for California.”

After all, the ACC’s climate emphasis is just another name for the conservation, restoration, and energy work the California Corps has been doing all along.

Biden’s use of executive power to revive his Climate Corps idea is partly a response to the climate fears and frustrations of young voters. When he greenlit the Willow oil drilling project in Alaska earlier this year, there was an immediate backlash from young voters and environmentalists. The national ACC effort, which so far consists of a recruitment website, could help motivate a cohort that Biden desperately needs in 2024.

On the other hand, the ACC is guaranteed to continue

faint

from the same forces that took it out of the Inflation Reduction Act last year.

Finally,

Republican leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R.-Ky.) claimed during the legislative battle that the corps idea was a way to bully every state into becoming more and more like California.

Replace the word ‘bullying’ with ‘inspire’ and I hope that’s exactly what happens.

David Helvarg is a writer; executive director of Blue Frontier, an ocean policy group; and co-host of “Rising Tide: The Ocean Podcast.”